The Curse of “be number one”

 Apart from work-life balance, I had forgotten another important factor that hinders human happiness.

That is,

"competition for promotion."

I realized this too during the one and a half years I spent at the bank. A young senior employee lamented that he was not yet an "assistant" even though his peers had already become deputies, and an agent lamented, "Why am I still an agent?", and a deputy manager who was about to retire complained to me at a drinking party, "I ended up as a deputy manager. But he got to the branch manager level. That's what I regret." And the branch manager, who was a senior at university, looked at the list of employees' titles and complained, "Oh, I don't want to see this! It makes me sick!".

Once you join an organization, you cannot escape the competition for promotion. And there is always someone higher up. There is no salvation other than being the best.

It's kind of the same as the fabrication of "differences" that we thought about when thinking about "money." God is merciful and has given us all enough grace to live, but the devil of desire keeps humans from being satisfied, from knowing enough, by forcing differences between humans and reproducing winners and losers. No matter how much science and technology advances, and no matter how rich humanity becomes materially thanks to it, if we can only evaluate ourselves relatively, whether we are above or below someone else, we will never be able to find peace of mind, and happiness will be like a mirage that cannot be grasped.

"Be number one"

Do you think that's encouraging?

Isn't it a curse from the devil of desire to keep humans forever in a state of dissatisfaction?

And to eliminate that dissatisfaction, we must get promoted. To get promoted, we must increase sales. In this way, humans are driven into a race for promotion, competing with each other while striving for profit, and as a result, "money" increases.

So the mastermind behind it all was "money" after all. One of the clever ways that money-mongers control and manipulate people is through the race for success.

Money is "wealth" and success is "fame".

"Wealth and fame"

These are the things the Buddha taught us to throw away first. Didn't Greek philosophers say the same thing? And other religions must say the same thing.

Now that I think about it, I grumbled about my current job,

"it's bad for public appearances", but public appearances are "fame". Even when it comes to income, saying "this is enough" is "wealth". When I pursued work-life balance, I discarded "wealth" and "fame" without realizing it. True, I don't have "wealth", but I do have "what I need ". "Wealth" is "having more than you need". So I guess I'm in a kind of monk state too.

I said that "be the best" is a curse, but I feel like my work-life balance is the best. But I throw away "wealth and fame".

It seems like an ultimate choice.

Which would you choose?

"Wealth and fame" or "Work-life balance"

It would be nice if you could choose both. If you could add faith to the mix, the former would naturally disappear and you would have to choose the latter. But in today's world ruled by money, it's pretty much the former. And since "wealth and fame" are purely relative, there's no end to it. You'll get into a trap. I think it's a trap set by the enemy.