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Be
Natural and You Will Win Effortlessly
By Peter Nguyen - May 7, 2008
There's a subtle difference between "normal" and "natural", and fully understanding and appreciating the difference might illuminate discussions about success in life.
An animal that lives a natural life (e.g. a lion in Africa) is winning "naturally." There are no man-made norms, so the lion doesn't have to play according to social norms. It doesn't, for instance, have to "keep up with the Joneses." It spends all of its time being itself authentically -- that is, it lives life as a magnificent lion.
Oh, before I forget, studies have shown that people prefer to earn $50,000 per year if their neighbors earn $25,000, rather than earn $100,000 while their neighbors earn the same amount. I guess this shows how norms influence people's thinking.
Back to the lion. It's a magnificent animal, as are all creatures on this planet. But man is a strange creature in that we create social norms and then try to surpass those norms in order to feel successful.
Most people try to become normal (study, graduate, get a job, buy a house, get married, etc.). Few people strive to be natural.
That is, few people strive to create a lifestyle that is more aligned with who they are and the life experience they seek on Earth. This is because it takes a certain kind of spiritual training to actually believe that you can create the ideal life for yourself.
In my case, I always did what felt natural to me, so I received four standing ovations before I reached the age of 18 (for winning two literary awards and being Valedictorian twice). But it was only in my 30s that I learned how to create an ideal career for myself -- one that felt natural and is aligned with my passion, talent, values and desire to contribute to the world.
To distinguish between "succeeding the normal way" and "succeeding the natural way," I think the following analogy might be useful: a person can run around really fast and pick the fruits hanging from others' trees, and after a while, he would normally be considered a "winner" since he has more fruits in his basket than other people (who may be slower or who may just enjoy being in nature).
A second person might, on the other hand, decide to tend to his own garden and patiently grow his own fruits and vegetables. After a while, he will have more "security" than the other person, and might even produce more food to share with others.
The key is to seek to be natural, not normal. There is, of course, nothing wrong with being normal, but that is only a platform from which one can jump higher to become totally aligned with one's true self.
In other words, strive to be normal so that you don't lose in society. But strive to be natural so that you win in life.
Society, through its institutions and structures and educational systems, is quite useful in helping a child to become "normal," that is, to fit in with existing ways of learning, working and socially interacting.
But normality is only the beginning. Only by striving to become natural, can one find happiness, health and wealth.
And to become truly natural, a person has to search for his or her true self.
The true self is like a huge oil field, and finding such a treasure within will allow a person to win effortlessly and without much resistance.
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