10.09.2008

Round & Round

My sister used to have a hamster, and we would be so captivated just watching it. Around and around, over and over, in circles he would run the race inside his little wheel. He seemed to enjoy making our eyes dizzy while he scrambled along. We’d laugh, thinking it was so cute. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it: put a wheel in a hamster’s cage, and it runs automatically. You don’t have to teach it, train it, reward it – the hamster just willfully runs towards his endless destination.

But why do the hamsters run? Don’t they realize they’re going nowhere – getting nowhere? Or maybe it’s because the running wheel is the one chance for the hamsters to feel free & wild inside the cage of metal. But it’s a sort of hopeless hope. Those silly little hamsters.

But if we’re laughing at the hamsters, who’s laughing at us? Because sometimes I’m the hamster, running for my life, round & round in circles, never getting anywhere. Running in a wheel, not even realizing that outside my race, there’s another challenge: breaking through the bars of my own little world. Running, but not moving. Free, but captured.

We keep running for our goals, for freedom, for change. But sometimes it seems like we're going back to the same place - back to the start. So we run faster & faster - that's what we need to do, right? When we can't get something, we chase after it more. But so often we don't realize that dreams can't always come true in a week - that we can't change the world to perfection in one day. And then, when we do realize we can't achieve something immediately, we can loose our passion - loose our fight. It's so easy to give up.

So instead of running, sometimes we have to wait. Wait with patience by the door of our cage - not run within it. Wait quietly. Wait carefully. Until the door opens. Because if you can get in, you can get out. Because if dreams couldn't come true, then we wouldn't have dreams. We can't give up because it's easier. We can't quit because we want the miracle now - because we can't wait. We can win. We can do it. Hold on a little longer. Because the only things worth winning, are the things worth fighting for.

And I still shake my head - those silly little hamsters.

(would love to hear your comment)

12 comments:

Romans 12:2 said...

My family has a hamster that does flips...odd.

There is a quote that says something like," Life is like a merry-go-round. Sometimes we're up, sometimes we're down, and sometimes we just go round and round." - Bob

loony lyssie said...

Wow.

I wish I had something more intelligent or worthy to say, but Wow is all that I can say to describe what I'm feeling.

You leave me with so many pressing life questions with these blog posts! It makes me think, you know?

Always the inspiration Mariposa (:

++Alyssa

Jill said...

Wow... very deep and thoughtful. Loved the poem and it's so true. It really makes you think.

Kirst said...

Haven't been on lately, but that's a really interesting way of looking at life. I love hearing how others view life. Keep up the blogging :)

Unknown said...

I wonder how many different cages we get ourselves into in one lifetime...

anyways, what I want to do is similar. I don't wanna a live a normal. I could do it, but I strive for more. I wanna change this world for the better, so that even if I don't have kids, the following generations can have better lives.

Anonymous social worker said...

WOW,
VERY NICE
MAD EME THINK.
NOCE THING YOU GOT GOING HERE.

milai said...

I love these lines...

"...not even realizing that outside my race, there’s another challenge: breaking through the bars of my own little world. Running, but not moving. Free, but captured."

That's why each one of us has to have a purpose in life.

Running around in circles is something that we all go through at some point in our lives. Until we realize that forcing things to happen only exhausts us.

That the run without an end goal and only a start is futile.

And so we embrace patience. And realize that patience is not just about waiting - it is waiting good-naturedly while still enjoying the wait and whatever it is that life's cards have currently dealt us with.

jEeRo said...

iTs true we r like hamster runnin round n round without realising it..any1 juz wants things to happen fast..every1 doesnt seem to have the patience anymore nowadays..run for better life better car better house better relationship..but thing is r we really happy inside when we get what we r runnin for?..or every1 is lonely inside in the end?...
thkx for your comments..it sure motivates me 2 blog..=)

José Luis Cota Vásquez said...

Sorry I didn't respond earlier, I usually don't just ignore people. And I usually don't get comments :].

Anyhow, I had a guinea pig, and though I'm not really into pets, I always found the time to socialize with it. I guess the only thing is that I didn't extract life lessons from pets.

Katie Alender said...

What a really lovely and thoughtful post! You've given me something to think about.

We do love to spin our wheels--often without even knowing where we hope to end up, or thinking about whether it's a place we really want to be.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Twisting by said...

this is true. i usually keep mu head for long term goals...but small things, i get to impatient waiting for it to happen, and i lose my passion for it, i move on to something else and then the same thign happens

? said...

Dear Mariposa

Perhaps running on the wheel is just exersising we humans do on a treadmill :)

On a serious note, arent we also running nowhere since the earth's gravity sucks us down :)

Ok, here's another try...mans attempts at globalisation (my most recent post) is a mirror of your post but I guess you have said it in a much better and easier way. Have you seen the movie babel? If you haven't at least you would have read about the tower of babel in Genesis, the idea of 'welding us together'. I think it's the same thing as globalisation and we seem to be going round and round, or what do you think?
See you on red eyes, hopefully.
{Hugs}