We would like to believe that the curve balls life throws at us are simply out of the ordinary. Like no one else would understand your boss from hell, or only you know what it is like to be in a long distance relationship. Well, here is some good and bad news! You are not as special as you think you are!

Most people spend majority of their life running behind what they think is the key to happiness. And most of the time, when they reach the other end, they realize “gee, this is not something I had in mind.” Kind of like that scene from the movie Madagascar when the penguins head out to reach a snowy destination after escaping the New York zoo. They thought the zoo had held them captive and life outside was bigger, better and full of happiness. Alas, when they reached the destination, within five minutes, one of them mumbled “well this sucks”.

Some girls for example always go behind the bad boys. The ones who keep them guessing, give mixed signals, treat them like one of the boys, rather hang out with the buddies on weekends, et al. They chase these so called bad boys one after the other, and then sob buckets when things don’t work out. This cycle goes on and on until they realize their relationship pattern. They are only interested in tying themselves up with men who are terrified of being tied down. But what will happen if in the course of the relationship, the man miraculously changes to become sensitive, giving, kind and mature? Will she lose interest?

The same thing happens with the illusion of “the dream job” – where your creative juices are perpetually flowing, the boss doesn’t care if you leave at 5pm as long as you have finished your task for the day and the colleagues only thank the fairy angels every night in their prayers to have found someone as nice and hard working as you to work with. Really? People change job after job, labeling their current job as an interim workplace where they are only working till something better comes along. When does the chase stop? Maybe once you become the Editor-in-chief or after you are designated the CEO! Who knows?

Let’s just assume bliss is attained when you find the perfect boyfriend, the ideal job, friends forever and the perfect body. But what about the interim period till you get there? More often than not, life itself becomes “interim” while we chase our illusions. Sometimes standing still may seem like the hardest thing to do after moving in circles.