It’s been said that those who do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result can be considered insane, crazy and in need of a head examination. Yet still, the world is filled with walking crazies who put on their shiny white jackets, take their dose of meds and dive head first into the wall of life.

Whether you call it a treadmill, the matrix or the carnival of life, we all have been programmed to accept this as living. Doing the same things, the same tasks, the same conversations, the same mistakes and the same exhaustive routine over and over again, expecting it to get better somehow. We do this day in, day out wanting, yearning, wishing for things to change and then do it all over again. Insane right?

Very rarely do we stop before we hop onto this ferris wheel of life and decide that it may be time to try a new approach, a new ride. Sailboat perhaps instead of a ferris wheel?

What sparked this line of thinking you ask?

Well… While being held captive and forced to watch the final episodes of Oprah ( Yes Oprah ), I happened to catch the episode that featured Ralph Lauren and family. A celebration of his achievements, triumphs and rise to American iconic stature. What struck me wasn’t all the red, white and blue, inspirational tales, or the way Oprah can get away asking questions without seeming nosy. No, what struck a chord was how starting out, this icon set out to change the world of fashion the way he saw fit, only to end up on a farm filled with cows, goats and a lot of peace and quiet.

Imagine that? After all the achievements, accolades and gazzilions of dollars. This great American hero preferred to spend his time, with his family, chasing the peace and quiet of life. To hear himself think, to engage in laughter, to be one with streams, leaves and the soft whispers of nature.

What made this interesting was that it seemed many celebrities, many icons, many leaders and many important folks in society end up taking the same path. They chase the name, the struggle, the spotlight, the accolades, only to end up on a ranch, on a farm, on some hidden island, away from everything they chased in the beginning.

Now we may not all be celebrities, icons or on Oprah’s speed dial, once click away from our featured interview, but we all have some of the traits in common. We chase life to end up chasing tranquility. We do everything we’re suppose to do, study, learn, walk in a straight line, color in a straight life, clock in, clock out… getting smiley faces and stars as kids, getting plaques and certificates as adults. Being cheered and revered, being beaten and hunted as we hunt to make meaning of our lives. Some rise to become icons, many of us remain only pieces in life that make it work for others, and many of us self destruct into pills, bottles, poverty and normality. Too burned out to keep running.

We run, we chase, we cry, we chase, we live, we chase, we struggle, we chase, we die… end chase.

Is it all really worth it? Does the chase really matter? If at the end of the day we want peace, we want tranquility and time to spend with the whispers of nature and the laughter of life?

What are you chasing and does it really matter?

– TRENDS

Image Source