Ways To Get Out Of The Rat Race
Stop The Comparison
You are one of a kind; there’s no other person that has the exact same DNA or fingerprint as you do. I know we’ve heard this over and over again but it bears repetition. Stop trying to be like another person; own your story, focus on your life and be the best you that there can be! (Bible reference – 2nd Corinthians 10:12)
2nd Corinthians 10:12 English Standard Version
Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.
2 Corinthians 10:18
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
Develop A Heart Of Contentment and Gratitude
Always wake up every day with a grateful heart; you could have been long dead and gone. So every day you wake up is a blessing from God. You may not have everything you ever wanted (and no one does by the way; no matter how wealthy you think they are) but you have something (you identify what it is).
1 Timothy 6:6-11 New Living Translation (NLT)
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. (Side note: it is the love of money and not money itself; money takes on the character of the possessor)
Always see your cup as half full and acknowledge that it could have been worse. Once you have conquered the ‘demon’ of comparison and are always content and grateful about what you have and where you are at this point in your life, you are well on your way to getting out of the rat race.
Adopt A Minimalist Lifestyle
So many of us can do without some of the things that we think are essential to our happiness. Through the last 5 years of my life, I have been going through a journey of minimalism. I have had to move from a relatively ‘bigger’ house to a smaller one. I’ve had to give out more than half of my belongings and I’ve had to do without a lot of things that had become part of my daily life.
And here’s my submission; I have less things to stress me out and less bills to pay. And on a lighter note; I get dressed and ready to go out faster because of less choices of cloths and accessories (lol).
Your children can get a solid education at a regular school and not necessarily the most expensive or Bourgie School around. They can live in a smaller house, with fewer toys and still grow up well rounded and happy. Your wife can make do without the diamonds and expensive gifts(hopefully) as long as you are around more often.
I could go on and on… you know what is keeping you in the rat race; trust me, you can do without it.
Always Take A Day Off
Do not work yourself to death! There are 7 days in a week and something we call ‘weekend’. This connotes the end of a working week. So many upwardly mobile men and women take pride in being busy.
They bring work home on weekdays and clock in to work on weekends. In most of our cosmopolitan cities, children are being raised by domestic staff and we wonder the decline in social values?
There is limit to the discipline that a domestic staff can mete out to a child; a domestic staff cannot love your child as much as you do. In some appalling cases, children are left to their own devices or handed over to schools to do what parents are supposed to do.
Marriages are failing by the seconds and young adults are developing diseases that used to be associated with old age. Things are falling apart and the center seems not to hold.
For the sake of your health, family and society, please take a day off! Bond with your loved ones, sleep in; have a day when you are not awaken by an alarm clock.
Create Loving Memories With Your Family and Loved Ones
Whether you are married, with or without kids or single, there are people that constitute family to you. Make out time to create loving memories with your family. Let your kids have something nostalgic to look back on when they come of age. Let there be memories that would make them want to come see you when you are old.
Make it difficult for them to stick you in a nursing home when you are old! Do not be one those folks who people would have to think real hard for something nice to say at your funeral just because ‘you should never speak ill of the dead’
Make an unforgettable impact on the lives of those that matter to you ( and it doesn’t always take money to do so!).
Let God Set The Pace Of Your Life
We started out this segment on how to get out of the rat race by saying that we should quit the comparison game. And that we can only do so by acknowledging that we are unique and there’s no one else like us on this planet.
If you believe that, then you need to take it a step further and trust God with all the affairs of your life. Take out a little time to study the parable of the talents ( Matthew 25:14-30) with emphasis on verse 15. Everyone was given something based on their ability.
Remember that it is God that made you and he knows how he wired you. He knows the limit to what you can take. Some people are 5 talent folks, others are 2 while some are 1. Never, ever despise what God has given you. Do not make the mistake of leaving God out of the equation of your life.
There is an African proverb that says that ‘ he that runs faster than his destiny runs into destruction’
Let the person who knows the end from the beginning direct your path and set the pace of your life. If you are a 5 talent person, God would give you the grace to balance all you have to do with the things that matter most in life (family and health in my opinion).
But if you are a 1 talent person who because of comparison and greed or ignorance gets into the 5 talent lane, you would definitely run into trouble.
So in conclusion of this point, I would say, get in touch with your manufacturer (God) and find out your purpose and path in life. Always consult your user manual (the bible) it would show you how to operate.
Finally, if you do not have a relationship with your maker, that might be the reason why you are still in the rat race. Fill that God-size vacuum in your life with the right piece (God). Make Jesus the lord of your life today and watch him lead in you in the path of fulfilment. You can ask Jesus to come into your heart wherever you are now. Just a simple prayer and your new life would begin.
Say this prayer – Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that my life is nothing without you and that I was born a sinner. I acknowledge that you died for my sin so I accept what you did on the cross for me. I ask you to come into my life to be my lord and saviour. I confess that Jesus is my saviour and that having accepted him; I am now a child of God.
If you made the above prayer and need counselling and further help you can reach us with the information in the bio. You can also reach out to any bible believing church around you for further help and counselling.
