I am turning 30 in six months. And something about the number compels me to reflect and feel stressed about my life- especially career and relationship.
Sam in Atypical
If you have watched Atypical, I feel like Sam who has to transition to college after school. He describes the experience as feeling like he is standing near an abyss.
An abyss is a deep, immeasurable gulf and that is how it feels for me when I think about my life. I keep comparing my life with the lives of those around me and I feel almost certain that only doom awaits me.
I realised I am feeling like others are progressing with their lives and I am the only one feeling stuck.
En vandi puncture aayi nikkuthu
I read about Darwin’s theory of natural selection and noted a connection with how I am feeling.
The essence of Darwin’s theory is that there is a struggle for existence and organisms are in competition with each other for survival: Those organisms possessing fitter variations are naturally and specifically selected for a greater chance of surviving in order to reproduce so that, over several generations. – P.D. Welsby
The not so fitter species die out. And I feel exactly like those species; like I’m in a cut-throat competition with my fellow humans and am badly failing at it.
Thankfully, I also stumbled on critique of Darwin’s theory. Darwin’s theory is not accepted in the present times because it doesn’t explain all forms of evolution and also because it ignores cooperative behaviour that exists among species.
There is so much cooperation that exists in our world. It can be overshadowed by the competition; but it irrefutably does exist. In fact, so many species including humans survive thanks only to the interdependence.
And thinking about this helps me calm my thoughts and focus on:
“How can I help and benefit from others around me” rather than
“How do I do better than others”
Interesting, what a simple perspective change can do 🙂
Thanithuvam 