Getting ahead is not the problem.
The question is what—or whom—you are willing to step on while getting there.
If success costs your conscience, you did not win. You merely paid too much.
Have you ever seen dogs, wolves, lions or other animals fighting over a kill?
There is a pecking order determining who eats first and how much. It may be enforced through aggression, claws, teeth and the threat of bloodletting.
The dominant animal makes its position known. Others recognize the boundary and either respect it or prepare to challenge it.
That may be the animal kingdom.
But what happens when humans start behaving the same way?
WORTHY NOTE: We can learn from all things—including the animal kingdom—without becoming animals ourselves.
HUMANS DOING THIS?
Yes, humans can become aggressive while pursuing their wants and needs, especially in professional arenas.
Competition is allowed.
Motivation is allowed.
Wanting to succeed and finishing what you started are allowed.
But what happens when the opportunity comes down to ME or YOU?
What if my advancement requires your injury?
What if my opportunity depends upon quietly removing yours?
There is the line.
Crossing it may get you ahead—but what does it turn you into?
WORTHY NOTE: People often say, “The end justifies the means.” A worthy goal does not give us permission to become cruel, dishonest or destructive along the way.
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR
The animal kingdom does not operate through human manners, conscience or courtesy.
Food chains, dominance, submission and survival govern much of that world.
Have you seen humans imitate it?
It can be ugly, demeaning and strangely acceptable among those who practice the same behavior.
One ruthless person recognizes another.
Dogs know their own.
THE RAT RACE
The rat race prepares people for possible dog-eat-dog episodes.
Pressure rises.
Positions become scarce.
Recognition, money and influence appear to be limited.
Suddenly, coworkers become opponents. Friends become competition. Kindness is interpreted as weakness, and the wounded are left behind.
People take no prisoners and do not look back.
Then they call it business.
I call it something else:
A warning.
WORTHY NOTE: When Tarzan made a kill, he placed his foot upon it and released that famous roaring victory cry.
He learned that from the animals.
Some humans reach the top, beat their chests and do nearly the same thing—only now they wear a suit. LOL.
LESS AGGRESSIVE FORMS
You have seen dog-eat-dog behavior in smaller everyday moments.
Someone cuts in line.
Someone steals a parking space after watching you wait for it.
People shove toward sale items, good seats, buffet tables or limited opportunities.
Pushy. Rude. Indifferent.
“My wants are more important than your humanity.”
Behold dog-eat-dog behavior walking around in public.
It does not always growl.
Sometimes it smiles while stepping in front of you.
WORTHY NOTE: When I see someone crying, upset or suffering—and I had something to do with it—being a man of conscience requires me to examine myself and not repeat it.
Conscience is not weakness.
It is the inner alarm telling you that success has begun costing too much.
RUTHLESSNESS AT THE TOP
Some people climb by competence, service and character.
Others climb by manipulation, intimidation or removing anyone standing in their way.
Power does not automatically corrupt everyone, but it can reveal what was already waiting underneath.
Once the position is secured, the rehearsed “softer side” may appear. Yet if ruthless tactics created the success, those tactics may still be waiting in the shadows.
Pay attention to how people climb.
It may tell you how they will behave after they arrive.
RELATIONSHIPS TOO
Dog-eat-dog behavior is not limited to business.
It can appear in relationships that were never properly explored beforehand.
Courting, observation, honest conversation and time may have been ignored. Later, someone awakens and wonders:
“What did I get into here?”
Pain, fighting and payback may follow because character was not examined before commitment.
Chemistry can introduce two people.
Only time reveals how they treat one another when they do not get their way.
GETTING AHEAD NORMALLY
There is another way to advance.
Work honestly.
Prepare properly.
Ask correctly.
Remain alert when opportunity appears.
Do your best without arranging someone else’s downfall.
This does not mean becoming passive or refusing to pursue what is good. It means ambition operates under the supervision of conscience.
You may still climb the ladder.
Just stop using people as the rungs.
The humble, the seekers and those guided by rightness may advance differently—but they can arrive without being ashamed of the trail behind them.
HAVING AND WANTING
Having and wanting are normal human dynamics.
The danger begins when nothing is enough.
How you go about obtaining something may be more important than obtaining it.
What good is possessing the prize if you cannot respect the person who acquired it?
WORTHY NOTE: “What if you gained the whole world but lost your soul in the process?”
That is no myth.
The hidden cost can be hideous and without mercy.
It will eat U alive.
Now who is eating whom?
THE FREEDOM OF ENOUGH
When my young wife and I were first married, she said something that freed me:
“It doesn’t matter what we have or don’t have, as long as we have each other.”
That allowed me to pursue our needs without believing that every want was a life-or-death emergency.
My second breakthrough?
Rice and beans.
I realized that if rice and beans were all I had to eat, I would not starve.
Suddenly, the fear of having less lost some of its power over me.
Knowing my downside—and knowing I could survive it—freed me.
A person who knows what is enough becomes harder to frighten, manipulate or corrupt.
PEARLS INSIGHT
When you do not need everything, you do not have to do anything to obtain it.
Enough protects the soul from excess.
RICHIE SPEAKS
Compete if you must.
Win when you can.
Climb as high as your gifts and honest work will carry you.
But if another person must bleed so you can celebrate, take another look at the prize.
It may already have teeth marks in it.
FINAL SAY
Getting ahead is not worth leaving your humanity behind.
Keep your ambition.
Keep your strength.
Keep your ability to compete.
Most of all, keep your conscience.
There is room in this world for success without savagery.
And if the world insists upon becoming dog-eat-dog?
Do not become the dog.
— Richie
Pearls for the Soul
when you feed the soul, you feed everything.
https://pearlsforthesoul.com
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