Why do we call it a ‘race’

It seems, all the time, we’re in a ‘race’. For some reason, which eludes me, we thrive on competition. Competition for land, for money, for ‘success’ or ‘glory’ – it’s always a ‘competition’.

We, as a people, don’t seem to be willing to extricate ourselves from this paradigm of being ‘better’ than others – other groups or individuals.

We educate children to compete in all sorts of ways. We’re engrossed with ‘sport’ which is all about being ‘better’ than ‘the other guy’ (or girl) through exercise of our physical and mental skills in one way or another, usually in some sort of ‘game’’ working as a team or individual.

We have a long standing obsession with ‘land’ or territory – “this is my space – keep out!” – which extends from individual to ‘national’ level although it wasn’t always this way.

The massive expansion in population from the early days has exacerbated this and there are current examples of nations wanting to absorb, take or conquer others which has always been the way throughout history.

The ‘big picture’ is all very well but what does it mean on an individual level? What does it mean for you and I?

We are aa ‘competitive’ species but what does this mean? What I’ve learned over the decades is there are two forms of competition. Competition with others and competition with ourselves and it’s for the latter we were really ‘designed’ and came to the planet.

We are here for an experience (as explained by Neale Donald Walsch) and this experience is about, as some would say but not explain, ‘bettering ourselves’. What’s misunderstood it this isn’t in comparison with others but within ourselves.

You and I compete – or should compete – with ourselves to become ‘better’. But in what way, what does this really mean?

I can only offer my personal understanding and belief on this. The way I see it is our personal objective is to achieve a state of personal freedom, whatever it means to us. To achieve a state of life where we are who we want to be and able to do and have whatever we want.

But this isn’t an end point, rather a way point on our journey to the life experience we came for, personal freedom is never an ‘end’ point.

As I explain elsewhere in this webspace, it’s a ‘spiral’ journey developing all domains of our lives by competing with who we are now and who we want to be, not ‘finally’ but ‘next’. It’s always about ‘next’ which is why you and I will, if we understand this, continually compete with ourselves – not others – to develop and achieve our cause in life.