
Intelligence is the ability to respond to a situation or challenge
We think we are very intelligent and so we try to mould our children to become intelligent like us. When we start this process, we first teach the child the logic of running in life driven by either fear or greed. Either he has to do something to achieve more, or he has to do something to prevent what he doesn’t want to happen. When you want something to happen, it is greed. When you are afraid that something will happen, it is fear. Either he has to study so he can get better grades and win admission in a good college, this is being driven by greed. Or he has to study so he is not left behind in his future professional life, this is being driven by fear. The motivation for the child is greed or fear, never inner fulfillment. Naturally, the child gets into the rat race and just keeps running, with no time to even look whether he is running for what he really wants. He does not even know that he can enjoy the run! He has been taught that with any other diversion, precious time will be wasted in reaching the goal.
But how many people have felt fulfilled after reaching the ‘goal’?
When you reach the goal you have set, you realize the goalpost is no longer there. It has moved further, and you want something else now! Just look in. See if you are really bringing up your children or just teaching them to be driven by greed and fear. Take a deep look at yourself and see if simply running the rat race gives the feeling of real fulfillment deep within you. Are you doing what you are doing because that is what you really want to do? Or are you doing it because that is what is expected of you by your family, friends and society? Understand, if you are living your life based on just seeing what others are doing, you are just wasting your precious life. This is what they call ‘herd mentality’ – joining the rat race because everybody else is a part of it. You may even win the rat race, but you are still a rat! Continue reading “Intelligence is the ability to respond to a situation or challenge”