“If you win the rat race, you’re still a rat”. Lily Tomlin

I find it funny how some terms are no longer used and made obsolete. For example, the description “rat race”.  The definition of this is, the unpleasant life of people who have jobs that require them to work very hard to compete with others for money, power, status, etc.

No one uses this term anymore because as Lily Tomlin points out: no one wants to be a rat, feeling like they have been conditioned to get their cheese at the end of the maze.

However just because we don’t use the term doesn’t mean it still isn’t happening. We find ourselves just plain flat out. We try to cram as much as we can into every day. Work, family, and friends. Hobbies, interests, and the mythical downtime, quality time and self-care.  Trying to find work life balance but still chasing after our idea of success whatever that looks like. We set goals and make plans to be at a certain level or place in our lives on all fronts: physically, emotionally, financially and spiritually.

And after we have done all of that what are we left with? Being able to tell people we are busy. No, you are actually in the rat race. And maybe it is time you think about how to get off.

People think it is retirement but that is wrong. We are designed to work and be useful and productive. No, the answer is looking at your life as a whole and assessing what is worthwhile and what is not. Some things are just not that important, but they are easy to stay focused on and spinning our wheels with and allowing them to eat up what little time we have on this big blue marble called the earth.

It may take some time, but it is worth it. The way you get out of the rat race is to stop being a rat. Stop looking for the cheese and start looking for the exit. Beyond the exit is the quality of life you have always desired and deserve. Good luck.