I’ve come to see life as a grand experiment, in which every day is a new opportunity to try something different. Unfortunately, it’s more often like the daily grind of throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks. The monotony of modern existence has left me pondering that infamous quote: “Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat.” While it’s not exactly motivational in nature, it does bring up a valid point about how most of us still approach modern existence.
In case you needed a reminder of just how bleak this race is, Wikipedia kindly defines it for us: “A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. It conjures up the image of lab rats racing through a maze to get the ‘cheese,’ much like society racing to get ahead financially. The term is commonly associated with an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment.”
So why do we often relent to such a relentless grind, when the cheese is nothing more than a mirage and the maze never ends? Here we are, diligently scurrying along, convinced that perhaps tomorrow’s cheese will be the one that changes everything. But, hope and pray as you might, you know that it won’t.
But, I digress. This isn’t just about pointing out the futility of it all, although that’s a fun pastime, too. Truthfully, I recognize that most of us didn’t sign up for the rat race knowingly. We just kind of fell into it. One day you’re chasing a dream, and the next, you’re stuck in a loop, wondering how you became a rodent in a maze instead of the intrepid adventurer you always imagined you’d be.
Yet, amidst all this mind-numbing repetition, there is a glimmer of hope. There’s an escape route, my dear friends, and it’s the power of experimentation. You must treat each day as an experiment, but rather than finding out just how much of the same thing you can endure before snapping, instead you should be discovering the small tweaks that can make life a bit less soul-crushing.
The beauty of being human — aside from our inexplicable fondness for making incredibly bad decisions — is our capacity to learn, innovate, and occasionally stumble upon something that actually works. We don’t have to be stuck in the same loop forever. We can experiment, mix things up, and even surprise ourselves with what we find.
Now, I’m not saying you need to overhaul your entire life in one grand gesture of rebellion. I’ve done that, but it’s not for everyone. Sometimes, it’s the small experiments that yield the best results. Maybe today, you swap out your usual morning coffee for a double espresso, just to see if your heart can handle it. Perhaps you take a different route to work, because that extra five minutes of scenic detour may give you the illusion of living on the edge. The possibilities for little tweaks are endless!
Of course, not all experiments are winners. Some will undoubtedly fail spectacularly, in fact. But that’s the point. Life is one giant trial-and-error process, and you must make errors before the fun really begins. After all, failed experiments often lead to the most interesting stories, or at least, the most memorable disasters.
But, keep in mind that some accidents turn into brilliant things and failed experiments can turn into world-altering discoveries. You may not think you can change the world, but you can do a lot more than you might think.
So go ahead, conduct some daily experiments. Throw caution to the wind, within reason. You might just discover a shortcut through the maze — or at the very least, a slightly less exhausting way to run it. The rat race will keep on running whether you’re a part of it or not. Let that be for the less bold and more complacent. Be the brave little mouse that wandered out into a strange new world.
If all else fails, there’s always the option of dropping out of the race entirely. But that’s a discussion for another day. Meanwhile, I hear there’s a new soy-free vegan cheese spread worth checking out.
~ Amelia Desertsong
