Why So Serious?
Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive. – Elbert Hubbard
Back in grade 11, I was running 800 meters on sports day. For a month prior to sports day, I had dreaded the race and complained (to myself) all day long about the school for having it on sports day instead of prior to it like it used to be. Why? Because I had to do gymnastics right before the race, which put me at a disadvantage. I could complain all I wanted, but the world does not revolve around me so things were not going to change. I should have prioritized and dropped either the race or gymnastics if it mattered to me that much, but this post is not about prioritizing.
We had a 200-meter track (so, four rounds around the track). I showed up to the start line already panting and sweaty, I felt nauseous due to the anxiety. The sound of the clapper filled the field as the race started. The first two rounds I was in the second position, as the third round started, I dropped to third. Halfway through the third round I stepped out of the track, I quit. Since I had started running back in grade five, I had placed good and bad (especially bad at inter-school cross country), one thing I was sure of was that I was never going to quit a race midway, which is exactly what I had just done. But why had I stopped? Exhaustion was not the reason, I had had races where I had felt much worse. The reason was I had taken the race and my placing in it too seriously, I was afraid that I would be a disappointment to myself in the race I had decided would be my last where I showed up prepared or put effort into, any race after this would just be for fun. I took it so seriously that I did not put it in sincere effort. Quitting seemed a better option than watching myself fail, especially because I had the exhaustion excuse ready.
This is what often happens in life, we take things too seriously, which often makes us risk averse or obsessed with the result instead of the journey. You might not quit, but these things might result in decreased effort or output. We need to do things sincerely not seriously, this is a concept I first heard from Ali Abdaal, who heard it from Alan Watts. Put everything you have into the things you do, but don’t take them seriously, be sincere not serious. This will also reduce the anxiety tied to the results. If despite all your efforts things go wrong, which they are bound to at some point, stop and observe, if you let go of the panic and anxiety, you will notice problems are simpler than you think them to be and some things are beyond our control so there is no point worrying anyway.
In all honesty, I am bad at this, which is why this article is a reminder to myself to be sincere not serious.
-Sartha
