Its a game called Life… or is it?

I am sure many of you have been in situations where you were wondering… Should I just quit? Should I just give up and start over? Or cut and leave right now? And more often than not, the option is “don’t do that… go ahead with it because the right path is the one with all the hurdles”. If you have grown up in India like I have, most of the advice especially in personal matters comes on these lines. And as always, what works at one place, is assumed to work at another. This blog is dedicated to explaining why that is bullshit.

The basic philosophy behind keeping something going… whether it be work on a project, a particular path in the career, or anything personal… like a relationship… is that things will improve. That perseverance is the answer, and no matter what the goal is, you can achieve if you throw effort at it. This is probably correct in some scenarios. Take studies for example, if you hit your head against enough textbooks, you are more likely than not understand a concept. If you work hard enough on a project of reasonable scale, you are likely to come close to finishing it. All this works as long as you know that there are things which are impossible in this world. Nike used it… Adidas did too… and half the population almost believed it… atleast their shirts said they did… Nothing is Impossible. And not the trivial impossible, but the so-hard-its-close-to-impossible stuff. Take for example, trying to get someone like me into biology. Oh yeah sure.. I watch discovery channel a lot. But that doesn’t mean I am anywhere close to good at it. Heck, I can’t make out the green leafy vegetables (one of the phrases you mug till tenth) when I see them. Now, if I set out to become a doctor, I probably would never get through merit quota (or as I would like to call it, the half-eaten piece of crap left after all the reservations have had a stomach upset from over-eating). And if I ever pay my way through, the only thing I would be good at, would be acting like a doctor in tv shows and porn movies. Now, if I had a brain wave, and tried for the medical colleges ( I truly respect those souls who know they have less than a sperm’s chance of making it to the other side), and failed… should I keep going on with it? No. But whats the first advice that you are most likely to get… “You’ll do better next time… try again.. (and most importantly) Don’t give up”. That is a load of bullshit.

Another scenario… how about a wall-street banker… if he stuck onto every stock he bought. Would he go anywhere? Nope. Then, why is it that the adage “Don’t give up… keep trying” is applied to all phases of life. Haven’t we seen enough circumstances where giving up is better than just sitting in the same place and sulking. I used to think that life is a game without a restart button. And that sucks sometimes. I wish I could turn off damage, and have the restart button whenever I want to. Anyways… I no longer think so. Initially, I thought this was maturity. I am “growing up” and “understanding” life more. But no… that isn’t it. I just realized that you don’t keep playing until you win every race. Nope. Its actually a Poker game. Fold when you need to, and have no qualms about it.
Somethings in life just don’t work out. Some people are meant to design processors while listening to songs, others are meant to cut cockroaches and vomit afterwards, and the rest (also called managers) get paid for not screwing up things. Ironically, the toughest job to get is the cockroach-killer’s one. This didn’t flash right in my face until a few days back. I have probably made a few decisions in life based on the poker philosophy, but never realized it then. I borrowed this poker thought from hollywood movies, and pragmatism.

I wrote this blog at 5am… so pardon the …. and any spelling mistakes. Its been so long since I wrote a blog. Thought I should get back to writing them. Feels good. Hope you liked it.

See ya.

~ by sharatspeak on November 8, 2009.