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It has been rightly said that life is a race. Yes it is as I consider all aspects of our daily activities
on the planet earth. From the simple acts of sleeping and waking; from the cradle to the grave:
Life is a race.
Whatever your place in the society you are in a race. I was born by a poor man, nursed by a poor
woman and grew up in a very crude environment. My place both in the society and family was at
the bottom. But that was no excuse for exemption from life¶s race. As long as you live you are
in. A very balanced race I¶d say. Rich or poor, we all start the race on the same track. Your
position in the society gives no advantage or disadvantage. What determines success is your will
and determination to shatter barriers, defy belief, redefine the possible and inspire the rest of
humanity.
Life I have come to understand is a long hurdle race ± a race in which all runners jump over
obstacles. All runners start the race together, but as they jump over and occasionally hit the
obstacles the runners slow down and more and more drop out.
Human life has a starting point and high hurdles along the way. During our lifespan, we
encounter one hurdle after another. Mine at first was identifying and defining my goals in the
race. Glad I overcome this, but never knew many more are on the way. Climbing up out of my
bottomed position in the society was one hell of a hurdle. I knew I deserved more than just a
meager existence but finding a way out was like trying to reach the top of Mount Everest. No
help from anybody as we are all runners in the same race. Learning survival skills is all by you.
It is a race more challenging than the Olympic.
Each jump I make and every effort to climb up makes me weaker and sometimes I feel like
giving up; quitting the race voluntarily.
I used to think that all I have to contend with in my race is lack of funds. But alas! I was wrong.
Some of my co runners are prisoners of goodwill, some are critics, some are breeders of
mayhem, and some are devil incarnates. They never wanted you to succeed. Like all competition,
there are rivals, opponents who are contending with you. So obstacles in the race are not all
about money. Our lifespan I see is the strongest bottleneck on how far we will go in the race.
It¶s been six years since I left school. I can say i am at the peak of my career, but I tell you the
battle for survival still continues. It doesn¶t end with Harvard or acquiring all the degrees the
university can offer and acquiring all certificates there is in your profession. From first degree to
second, third, fourth, fifth ... Professor Emeritus... You find out that there is quite a lot to learn as
we come to the end of life.
For the career civil servants and the private sector employees, life¶s race comes in the form of
office politics. They pursue one growth and promotion after another. The office clerk races to be
the manager, while the level 1 officer works hard to rise to the position of the permanent
secretary of the ministry. However, they soon get retired.
Industrialist, Entrepreneurs, and Businessmen continues to multiply their investment, open up
new branches and outlets, and look for mergers and acquisitions... this continues until death
knocks at the door and put an abrupt full stop to their endless ambition.
Have I finished my race? NO! Have I overcome my hurdles and obstacles of yesterday? Hmmm!
I think so but now I realize that since it a race hurdles will always be on your way and you must
continue to run despite all the hurdles because you are still alive.
As the years progress, many more difficult hurdles appear. And the higher the hurdles, the sooner
we drop out or die. If you live in the developed world, the drop-out point comes at about 75
years of age. This time period is called the average human lifespan. Some people though run on
longer and few even reach what is thought to be the maximum human lifespan 115-120 ± a feat
rare enough to make world headline news.
K


   
    
  
 


 
      
    
 


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