Today, our society is obsessed with winning. Enormous pressure is put on our youth to go out there and “win”. And if you’re not viewed as a winner, you’re seen as a loser, with no middle ground.

This obsession eats away at our subconscious  – to the point where each and every day, we evaluate our lives, not on the joys of living, but on whether we are winning or not.

In most cases, the definition of “winning” is unclear. We’re chasing an objective without really knowing what it’s about.

To the millions facing poverty, life is not about winning. It’s about surviving, making it to the next day.

For those of us fortunate to have food on our table and a roof over our head, the pressure to “win” is leading to heart attacks, broken relationships and depression, now at an all-time high.

As I look at the people around me, read the news and feel the beat of the world – I am witness to a mad rush to win, but see only loss.

I feel we need to stop trying to win, and start trying to live.

The happiest moments I have experienced in my life have not been the times where I felt I won something, such as a job, a contract or a pay raise.

The golden moments have been when I am silent, listening to my heartbeat and just feeling the power of life. The pure joy of existence. In these quiet moments, I am not thinking about winning and losing. I am thinking about “being” and the peace that produces.

I think about how life is meant to be an adventure in which the focus is not on winning, but rather – experimentation, trying new and different things, meeting new people – just going out there and living.

In a recent cartoon, two people are in an office, one with a huge smile on his face. The other asks, “Why are you so happy?” The response: “I don’t know.”

It’s at those times, when we do not know why we are happy, that we are content with living and we are grateful for all the things we have in our life, rather than lamenting what we do not have.

As we make our way through the busy work week, think “life” not “win”.

Life, with all of its complexities, joys and heartbreak is designed to be lived to the fullest.

If we can do that, then I will admit, we will have…won.

© 2016 Cory Robert Galbraith, All Rights Reserved.