Saturday 19 Jul 2025

Is the rat race worth it?

Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim | JULY 19, 2025, 12:33 AM IST

A student who scored 3.9 CGPA is dejected because another student managed 4. The student with 4 CGPA is miserable because he has not been placed in a multinational tech company. A student placed in a tech major is despondent because his colleague earns more than him. The top dog having the highest salary and perks in a company is sorrowful because he has no time to enjoy life with friends and family. This is what accrues when you get trapped in the infinite rat race; you are never happy. The relentlessly competitive and often futile pursuit of material success and status, often at the expense of personal wellbeing and genuine connections, ultimately benefits no one.

It would be pragmatic to drop this nihilistic approach in exchange for true happiness, but this is not to say that one should stop working hard in life. Learn to give, learn to help others not as privileged as you are, learn to appreciate the little joys and be grateful for the life you have; there could be a billion people on earth willing to give their right arms to lead the kind of life you are leading. True happiness lies in being instrumental in the happiness of other people. Quit the rat race because even if you win, you will remain a rat, a king rat if you will.


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