Some time ago, the sibling of my son’s schoolmate, a strapping youngster, succumbed to a sudden cardiac arrest. The same was the case with a paternal relative’s son and a collegemate’s daughter. The terrible thing in all these three cases was that they were all techies, in their late twenties. Needless to say, the work-related stress did play a wicked role in making them wave an early final adieu to the world.
Recently, a cousin, rather in a lighter vein, was remarking, “In bygone years, the children used to chaperon the ailing parents to the hospitals. Now, it is the other way round!” Well, if work stress is one possible culprit behind aforesaid petrifying tragedies, our firm fixation with feisty success (be it financial, academic or professional success) is yet another one. Even worse is our obsession with others’ successes!
A close buddy was once candidly confiding, "Whenever the promotion list gets released, I sense my heart pounding. Whether I have procured a promotion or not, the thought of my arch-rival bagging it ruffles me! Yes, I do know it isn’t sane to affix such singular importance to one’s success, subjecting oneself to so much mental stress."
Maybe, it is time we stopped obsessing over successes, and saw the value of a super healthy lifestyle, involving a great diet, sleep and fitness regimes. After all, the ‘best gift’ we can offer to our beloved ones is by keeping our body/mind ‘in fine fettle’ by which we can conquer anything. Sure, by staking our physical/mental health, and finally, our precious life itself, even if we achieve fabulous success, all of it would be nothing but a farcical self-defeating feat.
This apart, we should learn to say “So what” to umpteen things in life. Like, “No promotion?” So what! “No perks/incentives?” So what! “Getting ousted at the workplace?” So what! As none of these equates with our enormously ‘valuable life’.
Moreover, if one door of opportunity shuts, one path of success closes, or one avenue of happiness gets blocked, dozens of other doors/paths/avenues do open up. After all, as much of paradise is visible as we have the vision to see!