The unfairness of life
“That’s unfair!” – Every 5 year old kid on earth
So what?
Life is unfair. And that’s a good thing. If you don’t accept it, you will feel helpless, sad, anger, frustration and even vengeance. The unfairness of life brings the following benefits:
- Ability to control your life;
- Opportunity for improvement; and
- Growth mindset.
Controlling your life
It’s impossible for life to be fair and it shouldn’t. Such life would mean that everyone has the equal amount of everything. If there is imbalance, a fair life would automatically balance itself out. If you somehow attain more of something compared to the person next you, it will be dispersed equally and fairly amongst the general population. You won’t be able to control how much or how little you can have of anything in your life.
Opportunity for improvement
Unfairness creates opportunities for improvements. If life is fair, no matter how good, proficient and effective you are at what you do including your job, you will be no better or worse than your peers, colleagues and others around you. Your self-improvements will be solely for eventual balancing in a zero-sum game of life. In the midst of unfairness, opportunities are created due to the fact that you lack certain skill-sets, have shortcomings or need to catch up. These gaps in your life are opportunities that you need to grasp and improve on.
Growth mindset
You need to have a growth mindset because it allows you to get over the obstacles you face everyday and develop skills and intelligence. You will fall flat on your face without such mindset. The unfairness of life forces you to have a growth mindset unless you blame life being unfair, sit around and watch your life go by. You are no better or mature than a 5 year old child if you fail to accept the fact or blame that life is unfair. In such state, you end up being a couch potato, dreading the mundane routines of life and eating frozen meals in front of your tele.
My experience
Growing up, I was troubled by the inequalities and unfairness of life. I grew up poor in a rich neighbourhood and compared myself to my friends and classmates. They had nicer homes, parents who drove fancy cars and wore brand name clothes. Comparing myself to others who were “better off” than me led me to feel sad and frustrated. I didn’t realise how fortunate that I was until I was exposed to the fact that the majority of the world’s population were living in lower standards than me and many of them living barely beyond their means. I was naive to think that life should be fair. Life shouldn’t be fair and it’s not. Life is life and that is all there is to it.
What now?
- Are you blaming the unfairness of life? If so, have a good look around you. Don’t be fooled by the flashy things you see on social media or
- Embrace the unfairness of life by taking control of your life, taking up the opportunities and developing a growth mindset.