The Never-Ending Race
Our surroundings feel like a giant treadmill. “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” “Artificial Intelligence,” “Big Data”… The speakers constantly urge us to speed up. Afraid of falling behind, we run until we’re out of breath.
But have you ever suddenly wondered, “Where am I running to right now?”
Everyone seems to be moving forward, yet you feel like you’re just pacing in place. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, like struggling endlessly underwater. But what if that pacing isn’t stopping or retreating, but the process of preparing for the most important moment?
1. When You Feel Anxious About Others’ Pace
Let’s start with the story of Sujin, a designer. She was a veteran with 10 years of experience but recently felt her position was unstable. Colleagues were all busy learning coding and joining data analysis study groups, preparing to become “future talents.” The meeting room was filled with technical terms she couldn’t understand, and she found herself shrinking.
“Am I really going to be left behind like this?”
Anxious, she purchased online courses that lasted until dawn and attended various seminars on weekends. But the knowledge she forced into her mind only stayed on the surface, leaving her feeling empty inside. She was running but actually taking no steps forward—just pacing in place.
2. Wisdom Found in an Old Workshop
One day, to clear her cluttered mind, Sujin visited a small woodworking shop on the outskirts of the city. There she met an elderly man who had worked with wood for decades. Instead of the latest power tools, he used well-worn hand planes and chisels to slowly but precisely craft furniture.
“Sir, in a world where everything can be done with the push of a button, why do you work by hand so laboriously?”
Advertisement
The old man smiled gently and replied,
“Young lady, do you see that spinning top? For it to spin strongly, its axis must be solid. If you keep whipping it without pausing to steady the axis, the top will soon fall. Life is the same.”
He added,
“No matter how much the world changes, feeling the grain of the wood and carving a path that suits it is done by human hands, not machines. Without the time to pause and listen to the wood’s story, good furniture can never be made.”
At that moment, Sujin was struck like a thunderbolt. She realized that instead of pushing herself to keep up speed, she needed to pause and look into her own “grain.” Her pacing was not lost wandering but a breath-taking moment to build a solid core.
3. Facing the True Meaning of “Revolution”
With a shift in perspective, Sujin turned from tech books to history books, curious about how past “revolutions” changed the world. The Industrial Revolution with the steam engine, the Second Industrial Revolution that brought electric light. Behind those dazzling advances were tears of people who lost jobs and homes.
She learned that technological progress doesn’t always bring happiness to everyone. Sometimes it becomes a tool that benefits only a wealthy few. The massive wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution could be the same. What matters is not blindly riding the wave’s speed but reading its direction and finding where you stand within it.
4. Discovering Your Own Purpose
Afterward, Sujin stopped obsessing over coding classes. Instead, she focused on what she did best: understanding and empathizing with people’s hearts. She then thought about how to connect that ability with new technologies.
Advertisement
She designed user manuals for smart devices aimed at elderly people. Filled with warm illustrations and simple stories instead of complicated technical terms, her designs received explosive responses. Acting as a “translator” between tech experts and actual users, she gently touched the hearts often overlooked by technology.
Sujin still doesn’t know how to code or analyze big data. But she now proudly believes she is doing the most valuable work. Her pacing was, in the end, a precious exploration to find her one and only path in the world.
Supporting Your Pacing
Are you feeling lost and just pacing in place amid a huge wave of change? It’s okay. Your steps are not stopping.
They are a time to let muddy water settle and draw clear spring water, a time for reflection to find your own center undisturbed by surrounding noise. Above all, it is the bravest exploration to discover your own path, not the one set by the world.
So don’t rush. Move at your own rhythm, follow your own grain. Your precious pacing will soon create the strongest leap toward the world.
