OPINION

an ode to success

in a world where every man (and woman) writes, paints, acts, sings, plays the piano,

is a photographer or travels, speaks exotic languages, or has an internet site

or treks across deserts

 practises some extreme sports like free fall or lines up to climb everest

or attempts a fatal fall on mont blanc

or rows across an ocean...

how in god's name do you stand out!

more to the point why stand out?

there are several few possibilities but most are comparable to spitting to the wind,

as each nation wants its rocket, its bomb, its unique culture, son exception culturel,

its lot of champions and gold medals, its nobel prize winner, its pope, its oscar,

its davis cup, its world cup

then there is the bigger car, a second car, a bigger house, a better job, more money, the latest tv, the most powerful pc, the most exotic holiday...

each has become an expert, a specialist with inside information, the best contacts and friends in the know.

the best marriage producing the most intelligent offspring, first in the class, the best degree, headhunted by prestigious firms, having the most important job, the highest wage, his or her future spouse from the best family, an expensive wedding in the best restaurant...

the senseless race continues…

nothing has changed…the world has moved on…another millennium

once a man with a microphone could change the world,

a few centuries before that man invented print bringing books to the few who could read and rich enough to own them,

once a man with a small sailing boat could discover a continent and defeat an empire.

what is this desire to stand out, be different, this dissatisfaction, what purpose does it serve? each running after the same goal, each trying to be different and ending up the same!

denying the ordinary, the normal, to be better, to want more...and more

striving to success...the most cherished value  of  man