Life Is A Race

They lived a young athlete in the village of Kankodi, whose hunger and passion for success was measured by winning. He was the the fastest in his little village. One day, the king organized a race competition, where the winner goes home with his daughter. The young athlete prepared both day and night for the race. His agility intimidated the other athletes.

The D-day for the race came, people travelled from far and near to witness the event. All the competitors knelt at the starting point, the bell was rang, and the race commenced. Out of the 10 competitors, the young athlete, found his way to the finish line. He won the race, the crowd cheered and waved at the boy but the king remained still expressing no form of excitement.

Then came the round two, the young athlete was to compete with 10 new competitors, without fear of how tiring the first round was. He was eager to partake. The bell was rang, and another round of race began. This time around, it was more difficult than the first round. The young athlete manage his way to the finishing line before every other competitors. Again the crowd cheered and wave at the boy but the king remained calm. The young athlete was worried, but he had to keep his feelings to himself.

Then the king chose two competitors, to race with the young athlete, the first was a blind man and the second was an old woman. The gun was shot and the young athlete zoomed off, he was all smiles because he knew, he was sure of winning. When he got to the finish line. He was surprised, the was no clap nor cheers from the crowd, everyone stood looking at the young athlete, and the king was so disappointed. The young athlete remembered the very words of Robert Ingersoll "We rise by lifting others". He ran back to the two competitors who were still struggling to find their way to the finish line. He held their hands and they all walked to the finished line. The cheers and claps were louder, the cannon ball was shot and the wedding of the King's daughter took place immediately.

During speech by the king, he expressed great satisfaction by the attitude of the young athlete. He further went on to tell everyone, that life is like a race. Sometimes you win alone, other times you win with others. But how well you run the race is what determines your victory.

Moral Lesson

From the short story above, we've been made to understand life Is a race. But the bigger question are;

i) what is your aim of running the race?

ii) Who are you running against?

iii) Do you always want to win in all your races ?

Aim Of Running The Race

We all know that the aim of running a race is to win a prize, but race in this instance will amount to survival. Let's assume, while the young athlete was running with the competitors, he saw a lion chasing him, do you think he will be interested in winning the race. Of course, no! Rather he will run for survival. So in the race of life, we either run for survival or for the trophy. But then everyone wants a comfortable life and that's why we are all in the race.

A lot of people have done so many things just to remain at the top of their game, like the young athlete in the story above, he trained tirelessly just to beat other competitors. That is what I call a balanced race. But others use dubious means just to remain at the top. But whatever means, we used I think it should be a one which nobody gets hurt or cheated. The main aim of running the race, shouldn't be just to win the trophy but also be a blessing to others.

Who Are You Running Against ?

Knowing your opponents determines the level of effort invested in the race. But in the race of life, are we really running against anyone ? Of course nobody, rather we are running with others. The difference between against and with is, there is a bond in 'with' but there is 'disunity' in against. So the race of life involves you taking other people along. Where you are tired, another person could continue from there. Just like when constructing a house, we have people who are in charge of the lighting of the house, others are in charge of the supply of water etc. Which means we do need others for survival. Don't be a loner, make friends .

Do You Always Want To Win In All Your Race ?

Certainly yes! If I was to answer without a second thought. Nothing is as interesting as being at the zenith of your career. But when it comes to the race called life, after a thorough thinking, I will say No!. They should be instances when others also win, while other times you win together. This can only happen when you see life not as a race but a journey where everyone is important. Remember, a journey alone is always long and tiring but a journey in the company of others is always fun.

Bottom Line

No matter our desire for firm, money and a comfortable life, we should always endeavor to take others along. Everyone has a part to play in this long winding race called life.Remember, we rise by lifting others.

Lead image : Unsplash.com