Reaching the top

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I had a topic that was sitting in my head and I thought I might write something about it. So here I am.
     From what I understand, society teaches us that there are two basic ways of pursuing something. It could be a hobby, a job, a pass-time, a duty, etc etc. One, you set yourself the goal of becoming the best. And Two, you dive deep into it and enjoy it just for the sake of it. I see that the latter is slowly disappearing in this era and everything is becoming 'competition' based. Most people now aim to become the 'best'. In other words, beat everyone else.
     From experience, I have to say that I find the idea of intentionally trying to become the best, very tedious and painful. It adds pressure on you almost on a perpetual basis. And that makes you 'not love' what you're doing. Feel free to debate with me here, because this is just my opinion. Also, beating everyone seems a bit shallow to me. In the big picture, it seems like you're trying to push everyone else off the boat into the water, and you want to be the only one left on it. Doesn't that seem kinda shallow? (Not the water, but the concept - awkward laugh). I believe that the whole concept of 'having fun along the journey' begins to get lost here. Because, lets face it - You're not having fun if you're under social pressure all the time.
     Lets assume that you've already chosen the path to become 'the best'. In my opinion, there are 4 likely outcomes. Either
   
     1 - You actually do become the best
     2 - You become extremely good, but you're not the best
     3 - You become good, but you're certainly not the best
     4 - You end up going nowhere with your goals of becoming the best
   
     Ask yourself this. How likely is outcome 1? In reality, not very likely. (But also, remember that it is extremely inspiring if you believe that nothing can stop you even if the odds are against you. That's a topic for another day.) Having said that, I do not mean to belittle your dreams or stop you from going after what you really want. Its just that I want to make sure that this is what you really want. And in case you do end up becoming the best, then fantastic! It seems to have worked for you!
     Outcome 2 is actually more likely to happen. And outcome 3 is a lot lot more likely to happen. And funny enough, outcome 4 is extremely likely too. So putting luck and other uncontrollable factors aside, there's a good chance that you're going to be juggling between outcomes 2,3 and 4. Ultimately you just have to ask yourself if you're going to be ok with that.
      What about the consequences? What happens to you if you do reach the top? Elation? Adulation? Pride? Ego? Respect? Yes, all of that. But as with anything, they are all momentary. Once you get accustomed to them, you naturally don't feel special anymore. And here's what I think is the worst part. Once you reach the top, you live in constant battle with everyone else to protect your title...to protect your status, your image, your pride, your wealth and what not. And that is when you stop following your passion for the sake of doing it. It becomes a struggle. The joy of creating something for the sake of creating it, is lost, and you're perhaps forced to create things just to bend to public opinion, and not because you love doing it. Life doesn't seem like an adventure anymore, it seems like rebellion.
     On the other hand, what if you pursue something just because you enjoy it. No strings attached. If you really love doing it, you'll end up finding yourself getting married to it...figuratively. (Damn those puns, they ruined something beautiful). And you'll find that you're 'having fun along the journey'...if you look at the big picture. And more often than not, when you love doing something, you're going to end up becoming good at it. That, in my opinion is the way to go about things. But then again, I could be wrong.
     But I have to say this. If you really want to be the best, then I encourage you to go for it. Go for it! I'm dead serious. If that's what your heart tells you, then that is what you should do. Its just that things work differently for me. I honestly think that I perform better when I'm not under pressure. (Goddamn puns!) So ultimately it comes down to 'To each, his/her own' I guess.
     On that note, I'm gonna go and do...something. I dunno what I'll do. Lets see. Anyway, I'm out. Later dudes.