We currently live in a culture that revolves around instant gratification. People want things now, even when realistically speaking some of those things take some time to achieve. Whether it is a happy marriage, a promotion, or a successful carrier, there’s a process involved. Life is becoming more and more about immediate results. People focus on what it is that others do to achieve “X” with the hope of achieving the same results but faster. Consequently, the web is saturated with articles on “how to achieve or get to X faster”. It is this constant focus on speed that not only minimizes the importance of the results achieved but can even become an obstacle to real sustainable progress.
As I was reflecting on our culture’s infatuation with immediate results, I remembered a quote from my favourite comic strip, “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle, most of us have gears that we never use” (Peanuts – May 29, 1981). I found this metaphor quite interesting when I related it to a specific personal experience. A couple of years ago, I decided to attend a spinning class as I was very curious about why people got into it so much, even though they were not going anywhere. Every time I went to the gym, the class was full and people looked like they were in the race of their life. The first few sessions were challenging for a variety of reasons, beginning with the fact that I not only had to adjust the bike to my height but I had to get used to the bike itself. Secondly, I was trying to go at the group speed, so I switched the gears up and down as per the instructor’s directions. This not only left me exhausted but was taking away from the exhilarating experience that others were having and that had attracted me to the class in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment