Illustration: Xia Qing/GT
My father has always had a flare for preaching and one of his all-time favorite teachings is "Be happy with what you have and don't compare or compete with others." The more I rejected it, the more I got to hear it, and I am sure I am not the only one whose parents taught them or at least tried to teach them this lesson.
Not only our parents but even our sages and philosophers like Socrates, Lao Tzu and Buddha have been saying the same thing for ages.
But I just cannot seem to wrap my head around it. I mean if they really mean what they say then why burn the midnight oil for higher marks in our exams? Why kill ourselves for a promotion or a raise in salary? We should be happy with what we have, isn't it?
Every time we are told you can do better than this, we are already being compared with something or someone, but wasn't "not to compare" a part of the teaching? "Better" can also mean that what we have done is not satisfactory.
The dictionary definition of the word satisfaction is fulfillment of one's wishes. That makes it ambiguous as one's wishes are dependent on their state of mind and their situation.
Doesn't that sort of contradict the whole point of satisfaction?
Even if we take those words as it is, just imagine how the world would be if everyone was content with what they were, how they were and where they were.
People would have been happy with horses and bullock carts and cars would have never been invented.
Graham Bell would have been content with telegrams or Samuel Morse would have been happy traveling days on end just to send a simple message, and telephones and telegrams would have never been invented, let alone e-mails and Internet calls.
The whole idea of a better life, a better world comes from the fact that we are not satisfied with what we have. It might be okay for now, it's livable, but certainly not good enough for tomorrow and definitely not for the day after.
Just think if Steve Jobs would have been satisfied with the first version of the iPhone. Now that might have been a good thing and we would have been able to save a lot of money.
There is a new lesson being taught these days - stay hungry, stay foolish. "Staying hungry" does not mean that one should start living at Mc Donald's, rather it means never being satisfied and always pushing oneself for more.
Okay, so you got the job you wanted, great, give yourself a pat on the back and set your eyes on the next target.
"Stay foolish" implies that one should be ready to try new things and step out of one's comfort zone even when people say its foolish. People even called Einstein foolish.
Now this is something I can relate to and work with. I am not saying one should not be happy with what they are or what they have but don't let yourself be satisfied and rusted. Celebrate your achievements, no matter how big or small, take inspiration from them and then achieve some more.
This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.