TITLE UNKNOWN PART 2

Mama: “No no, it was more to understand what the drive is for.  Are you simply running after the next goal or have you got some idea of the ‘why’?”

Me: “I was doing this to qualify…obviously!”

Dad: “Then what?”

Me: “…” Now feeling like I was starting to understand the point they were making and feeling the impending ‘knowledge’ about to being dropped.

Dad: “Some people run from one thing to the next and the next and then at the end of it all realise that they have simply done just that.  A bit like that Rabbit in that cartoon, they are always late, very late – but we are not quite sure what they are late for.”

At this stage you will have to use your hands to help aid the point being made.  Dad held up his two hands in the air – a foot apart from one another.

Dad: “You did your GCSEs exams (Left hand) and you were driven to do well to enable a better choice of A-Level exams (Right hand).  When you got there (bringing his left hand to the right and then resetting to a foot apart), you were driven with your A-Levels (now the newly reset Left hand) to get into a better University course (newly reset Right hand).

This then continued with the University being replaced with a job, and then the job being replaced with a qualification, being replaced with a promotion, being replaced with a higher promotion….in the middle of which you also have marriage, have kids, have a good school for your kids, and blah blah.”

All the while, he was repeating the left hand meeting his right hand and resetting and then going on again.  To be fair to the pair of them, I was getting the point; that this list of things to achieve is unending and can go one forever.  Until he suddenly and resolutely anchored his right hand in the air declaring…

Dad: “BUT!  There is one thing that there is no next stage from.  Once you hit this one that’s it.”

Me: “Huh?  What’s that?  Is that when I get a to the top of the ladder?”  For those of you smiling at my daftness; in my defence, I was half asleep when this conversation started, and they had kind of half hypnotised me with the whole hands thing and the never-ending targets.  So, I would like to be pardoned for not catching on sooner.

Mama: “Not quite, it is more something that you will not pass Go from.”

Me: “Are we talking Monopoly now?  What is this dead end supposed to be?!”

Dad: “You got it!  This (reaffirming his right hand) represents Death.  People in this race, who chase the next thing after the next after the next, are simply running towards death blindly not taking note of the moments as they pass by.  They are always preoccupied with the future and just miss the glory of life that is happening all around them at each moment.”

Me: “…” I was a little awed and shocked by the realisation and how hard it hit home.  Obviously, I was trying my hardest not to show this and allow them kudos.  However, I could not shake off the feeling that they were right.  I had, in more ways than I would like to have admitted, raced through each stage looking for the next.  This was always then going to lead to further goalposts to chase and run towards.  Frick!  The old guys had me, and they knew I was drawing blanks in this round.  Frick!

Mama: “Now, don’t get us wrong, we are immensely proud and blah blah of stuff you have done.  And we are not saying you should simply stand still and smell the flowers from now on.  More that, aim for a more balanced approach where it is not always just about the next stage.  It is also a case of smiling and enjoying yourself along the way.”

Me: “Okay, okay I get it, lecture over…” In hindsight I didn’t get it, and on further reflection it took me a full 6 months of being confused before I even started to get it.

Dad: “Not so fast, there’s also another fallacy people commonly fall into…”

Part 3 to follow shortly.  Suffice to say they knew they had me on the ropes and were going in for the kill…