Recently, I came across an exciting video where an event organizer tells a group of people they will play a game with balloons. He gave them a balloon each and explained that he would blow the whistle indicating the start of the game, and the person, who retained his balloon till the end when the whistle was blown again, would be the winner. “No Balloon Would Have Burst”
No Balloon Would Have Burst
As soon as he blew the whistle, all the contestants pounced upon each other to burst the other one’s balloon.
Every participant was in a state of frenzy, running around, shouting, and trying their best to burst any balloon. They were so focused on this that they lost control over theirs too.
The final whistle was blown, marking the end of the game.
The organizer enquired if there was anyone who had his balloon left and received the answer ‘NO.’ He then informed the lot that there was no winner as no one’s balloon was intact. All were joint losers. He said he was highly disappointed and asked if there was any other way of saving the balloons.
No one had an answer.
He then said, \ “What if no one had tried bursting the other person’s balloon and only focused on his? No balloons would have been burst, and all would have their balloons intact. They all would have been collective winners.
This incident left me thinking it was so true. How often do we try to win collectively? Perhaps, only when playing a team sport, because it affects ‘me’ also. We try to excel but in isolation. We are in a state of competition always. As kids, we see in school that the pupil who comes first is given a prize, and we start the race to come first. So, we never think of helping the weak in their studies, even if he is a friend. Remember how we made excuses to avoid giving our class notes to others?
Even our parents discouraged it. They would always point out that there is so much competition and we should not be so foolish as to share our notes. We are teaching our children the same thing. We never teach them to win collectively. We don’t concentrate on their performance but always ask them about others.
If others have also not done well, then it is OK.
The slogan ‘We rise by lifting others’ looks great as our WhatsApp status, but do we ever think of lifting others? No, only a very few! If only we would start thinking so, it would drastically change our society.
The sweeper, the maid, the plumber, the security guards, and many such people help us with our work daily. Sometimes, I think about what would have happened if they were not doing their work. Could I be able to do it? It is undoubtedly difficult, but we never give them importance or try to improve the quality of their life; hence, the gap widens between the rich and the poor.
We will keep our clothes stacked in our cupboards but hardly think of distributing them to the poor and needy. We can do so much, but we don’t. If they question our behaviour, we often say, \ “Bahut dimag chadh gaya hai inka.”
Don’t we? They are also human beings like us, then why don’t we think of uplifting them to our level? Instead, we want to suppress them and hold them there. This is because we are always taught to stay ahead in the rat race if we want to make a mark. We are not satisfied that we are better placed; instead, we don’t want the other to rise in comparison.
Whenever we go to a get-together, we are dressed up in our best way and are very happy to receive compliments.
But here, too, if someone points the finger at someone else’s dress, we join in making fun of that person. Why? This is because we are not satisfied that ‘I am looking OK, but we get more happiness that the other one is not and I am better.
When in the office, all our colleagues are our friends, but there is cut-throat competition within. Why? Why do we never think of helping each other rather than pulling each other’s legs? Why do we never count success collectively? Do we count our success by the success of all our colleagues?
Are we delighted if they get promoted? Doubtful! We are like crabs climbing a wall, pulling at each other’s legs to bring them down, even if we also fall.
We often see that if a government tries to do something for the people or country, the people in the opposition start its criticism without thinking about whether it is good or bad. This has become a trend. The result is that people are, at times, the primary sufferer. Here again, we are not thinking collectively but being selfish. We are out to stop the other person from being a winner by hook or crook.
Why is this happening all around and also within us? We were not born like this, were we? We must think about this very seriously. We have been taught since childhood that life is a race, and if we have to win, we have to excel but in isolation. Always think about ‘ME’ and not ‘WE.’ This has\u0026nbsp; become our mindset, and we are trying our best to win the rat race. We are at times happier with the failures of others than our success and, in the process, fail to enjoy it.
Some people think about ‘WE’ and are very satisfied within, but this is not universal. It is OK then to concentrate on winning but why at the cost of others? We should surely rise, but let others around us also rise. Not all, but most of us fall prey to the\u0026nbsp; the competitive world around us, and we need to check on our conscience to avoid it. Let’s concentrate on our win rather than others’ loss. Instead of bursting into others’ balloons, we should concentrate on ours and let others care for theirs. Everyone is fighting their own battle to survive; life is complex, and we must try to make it easy.
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Thanks for Reading
Sunil Chaudhary
India’s Leading Digital Coach
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