The World IS Rigged

My little brother Mark sent a text to his best friend about success and how it is seen by the world. His words ring true to all who experience success and all who wish to live the lives of the elite.

Everyone has to come to the understanding that the world is rigged. It is. The people above you have it easier....

Have you ever noticed a person who seems to have everything go their way? They win all the contests, get the best grades, and have the coolest group of friends. It seems like their lives have always been perfect, and you wonder if they ever had a bad day.

If you look a little more closely howevr, you may notice that these people are not just successful and happy, but they are also hated on by several people. Every successful Youtube video has hateful comments. Every politician has a large group of people tweeting about why they would ruin the world. Every popular girl has a trail of angry girls spreading gossip about events that may never have happened.

When you find success everyone will look up at you as if you’re the problem with the world. You’re the reason they’re struggling. 

Instead of saying that this person is simply blessed or successful, we as a society tend to blame them for our troubles. It’s their fault that we did not get the highest grade in the class. It’s their fault that the guy we like doesn’t like us back. It’s their fault that we don’t have enough money to buy the things we want.

We assume that these people just keep giving to themselves. 

I witnessed something very similar to this with my younger sisters. There was a toy that one of them was playing with. It was an animal toy, just like the dozens of others sitting in the box.

The other one wanted the toy.

Instead of grabbing one the identical ones in the box, my sister insisted on snatching the animal out of my other sister’s hand. Suddenly, they start screaming and crying. They both want the toy, and they will fight tooth and nail to get it back.

Then they were both sent to their rooms, and no one could play.

They could have played together if my sister had taken the time to recognize that she did not need the specific toy that my other sister had. She could have picked up an identical animal toy and played with her. They could both be happy.

She chose to fight for what someone else already had.

Success is not a measure of how what others have in comparison to you. 

Just because someone has something does not mean that you cannot have something similar, or even the exact same thing. Sure, you may not be dating the star athlete, but maybe you are dating someone that makes you feel like a champion. Sure, you may not be the top of the class, but you are the person that all of the professors love and give recommendations to. Sure you may not have the same skinny stature someone else has, but you know you are healthy and capable of living a long life.

Success is setting a goal, however high, and attaining that goal. It is about making it wherever you want to go, in whichever area of life you choose, career you want, or social circle you desire. Just because someone has a great life does not mean that you cannot be successful as well.

Regardless, no matter where you go, people are going to hate you for your success.

But not everyone. 

A select few will be like you. They’ll see you climbed without a safety net, and learned how to clip in all on your own. They’ll reach the same summit you did, because they worked just as hard. 

Just as you may have haters as a result of your success, you will also have supporters. People who support you may not have the same type of success, but they will know how you got there.

I have a friend who rock climbs all the time. One day, I was watching someone climb up the wall, and I was impressed by how quickly they made it up the wall. I wanted to be that strong. When I asked my friend what she thought, she told me that she was impressed by the “moves” that they did.

Rock climbers know that there are types of moves that people use to climb up the wall. These tricks and maneuvers seem fluid to an untrained observer, but for those who have climbed before, they know just how difficult it is to grab certain rocks in certain ways.

They know how many times that person has fallen trying to perfect that one specific move.

People who are successful appear like they are capable of anything, and life appears easier to them because they are able to succeed based on what they have done before. They know the tricks and the pitfalls and the fears and the dangers of whatever task lies ahead of them. And just like climbing a wall, you cannot be successful until you get working and get climbing.

Success is a measure of the number of moves and tricks you have mastered on your way to the top. Because you have practiced and put the work in, you know what is coming next, and you know what to do.

Life looks easier because success breeds success.

The hard work put in, while unseen by those who have yet to try, is what makes life seem so seamless for these people.No matter how many times you try to blame them for your inability to climb the mountain for yourself, they will always be able to remember how they got to the top.

By complaining and spending time throwing hateful comments and backstabbing those who are successful, we accomplish nothing.

But some people won’t get that. They stay in the valley, looking up at peaks that their work ethic won’t let them reach. They’ll curse you, and they’ll curse me. 

We as a society sit in the middle, cursing those who seem to have it all. We blame the rich kids for making our lives miserable. We blame the authorities for our friends breaking the law. We blame politicians for our lives being difficult. We blame organizations, churches, and family members for the way things are.

Working hard does not matter anymore to the American people. We want our money handed to us. We want to lose weight fast. We want our headache to go away as soon as we take our medicine. We want emotional baggage to be instantly removed as soon as we take the first drink of the night.

So we sit in the valley, refusing to get on the mountain, because we do not want to fall back down.

If there is anything in life that has scared me the most, it is the fear of failing. I fear that if I reach for anything that I will simply lose everything. I fear that if I apply to my dream school that I will be rejected. I believe if I try to talk to the cute guy at church that he’ll just ignore me. I believe that if I try to go to the group fitness classes that I will be made fun of by the girls whose legs don’t jiggle when they jump.

But I chose to apply to my dream school, I chose to talk to cute boys, and I chose to attend as many group fitness classes as I could.

I got in to my dream school. Cute boys talk to me now. I am starting to see more muscle in my body, and I am ignoring the fat reserves I still have.

I was successful, and I will continue to be successful.

It is true that the world is rigged. When we put the effort forth, we continue to succeed and we continue to be successful. In spite of all the things that we do, we are going to be successful.

But we cannot let the world tell us to stop trying.

We know what has been effective, what will work, and how our mission will proceed.

Those that hate us may take away our social capital. They can throw stones at us, make fun of us, and make us feel like our efforts are worthless. Regardless of what they do, we will always be able to succeed if we believe in the work we do.

Believe in what you do.

Believe in your efforts.

Even when the haters make fun of you when you fall, you know that you will learn the moves, and you know that it will work out. You just have to tune them out when they laugh at your bruised and beaten bodies. 

In time, the failures will only be a distant memory, and their laughter will be too faint for you to hear anymore.

You will succeed at everything and anything.

Because after all, the world is rigged. 

Rigged in favor of those who try.

Full Quotation:

“Everyone has to come to the understanding that the world is rigged. It is. The people above you have it easier. So the only way to survive is work harder than anyone else. When you find success everyone will look up at you as if you’re the problem with the world. You’re the reason they’re struggling. But not everyone. A select few will be like you. They’ll see you climbed without a safety net, and learned how to clip in all on your own. They’ll reach the same summit you did, because they worked just as hard. But some people won’t get that. They stay in the valley, looking up at peaks that their work ethic won’t let them reach. They’ll curse you, and they’ll curse me. Because after all, the world is rigged. Rigged in favor of those who try.” ~Mark Thomas Newton