The problem isn't that life is unfair — it's that you don't know the rules 

 Unless you're winning, most of life will seem hideously unfair to you.

The truth is, life is just playing by different rules.
 

The real rules are there. They actually make sense. But they're a bit more complicated, and a lot less comfortable, which is why most people never manage to learn them.
 

Let's try.
 

Rule No. 1: Life is a competition.
 

That business you work for? Someone's trying to kill it. That job you like? Someone would love to replace you with a computer program. That girlfriend / boyfriend / high-paying job / Nobel Prize that you want? So does somebody else.  

We're all in competition, although we prefer not to realize it. Most achievements are notable only in relation to those of others. You swam more miles, or can dance better, or got more Facebook Likes than the average. Well done.
 

It's a painful thing to believe, of course, which is why we're constantly assuring one another the opposite. "Just do your best," we hear. "You're in competition only with yourself." The funny thing about platitudes like that is they're designed to make you try harder anyway. If competition really didn't matter, we'd tell struggling children to just give up.
 

Fortunately, we don't live in a world in which everyone has to kill one another to prosper. The blessing of modern civilization is there's abundant opportunities and enough for us all to get by, even if we don't compete directly.
 

But never fall for the collective delusion that there's not a competition going on. People dress up to win partners. They interview to win jobs. If you deny that competition exists, you're just losing. Everything in demand is on a competitive scale. And the best is available only to those who are willing to truly fight for it.
 

Rule No. 2: You're judged by what you do, not what you think. 

Society judges people by what they can do for others. Can you save children from a burning house, or remove a tumor, or make a room of strangers laugh? You've got value right there.
 

That's not how we judge ourselves though. We judge ourselves by our thoughts.
"I'm a good person." "I'm ambitious." "I'm better than this." These idle impulses may comfort us at night, but they're not how the world sees us. They're not even how we see other people.
 

Well-meaning intentions don't matter. An internal sense of honour and love and duty ｃount for squat. What exactly can you and have you done for the world?
 

Abilities are not prized by their virtue. Whatever admiration society awards us comes from the selfish perspectives of others. A hardworking janitor is less rewarded by society than a ruthless stockbroker. A cancer researcher is rewarded less than a supermodel. Why? Because those abilities are rarer and affect more people.

We like to like to think that society rewards those who do the best work.

 

But in reality, social reward is just a network effect. Reward comes down mostly to the number of people you reach.

Write an unpublished book, you're nobody. Write "Harry Potter," and the world wants to know you. Save a life, you're a small-town hero, but cure cancer and you're a legend. Unfortunately, the same rule applies to all talents, even unsavory ones: get naked for one person and you might just make them smile get naked for 50 million people and you might just be Kim Kardashian.
 

You may hate this. It may make you sick. Reality doesn't care. You're judged by what you have the ability to do, and the volume of people you can affect. If you don't accept this, then the judgment of the world will seem very unfair indeed.
 

Rule No. 3: Our idea of fairness is self interest.
 

People like to invent moral authority. It's why we have referees in sports games and judges in courtrooms: We have an innate sense of right and wrong, and we expect the world to comply. Our parents tell us this. Our teachers teach us this. Be a good boy, and have some candy.
 

But reality is indifferent. You studied hard, but you failed the exam. You worked hard, but you didn't get promoted. You love her, but she won't return your calls.
 

The problem isn't that life is unfair it's your broken idea of fairness.
 

Take a proper look at that person you fancy but didn't fancy you back. That's a complete person. A person with years of experience being someone completely different from you. A real person who interacts with hundreds or thousands of other people every year.
 

Now what are the odds that among all that, you're automatically that person's first pick for love-of-their-life? Because — what — you exist? Because you feel something for them? That might matter to you, but their decision is not about you.
Similarly we love to hate our bosses and parents and politicians. Their judgments are unfair. And stupid. Because they don't agree with me! And they should! Because I am unquestionably the greatest authority on everything ever in the whole world!
 

It's true there are some truly awful authority figures. But they're not all evil, self-serving monsters trying to line their pockets and savor your misery. Most are just trying to do their best, under different circumstances from yours.
 

Maybe they know things you don't — like, say, your company will go bust if they don't do something unpopular. Maybe they have different priorities than you do — like, say, long-term growth over short-term happiness.
 

But however they make you feel, the actions of others are not some cosmic judgment on your being. They're just a byproduct of being alive.
 

Why life isn't fair
 

Our idea of fairness isn't actually obtainable. It's really just a cloak for wishful thinking.
 

Can you imagine how insane life would be if it actually were "fair" to everyone? Nobody could fancy anyone who wasn't the love of their life, for fear of breaking a heart. Companies would fail only if everyone who worked for them were evil.  

Relationships would end only when both partners died simultaneously. Rainｄrops would fall only on bad people.
 

Most of us get so hung up on how we think the world should work that we can't see how it does. But facing that reality might just be the key to unlocking your understanding of the world, and with it, all of your potential. 

Article Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-problem-isnt-that-life-is-unfair-2015-11
Image Source: http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/564a1f20112314ae008b5766-2065-1101/if-life-was-fair-2.png 

VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Notable (adj.) ~ worthy of attention or notice remarkable
2. Platitude (n.) ~ a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful
3. Delusion (n.) ~ an idiosyncratic belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality or rational argument, typically a symptom of mental disorder
4. Idle (adj.) ~ without purpose or effect pointless
5. Squat (n./ slang) ~ a small or worthless amount diddly-squat.
6. Ruthless (adj.) ~ having or showing no pity or compassion for others
7. Unsavory (adj.) ~ disagreeable and unpleasant because morally disreputable
8. Innate (adj.) ~ inborn natural
9. Cosmic (adj.) ~ inconceivably vast
10. Cloak (v.) ~ to hide or disguise
11. Wishful thinking (idiom) ~ basically daydreaming wishing or imagining something would happen that isn't exactly realistic.
12. Hung up (adj./ informal) ~ thinking or worrying too much about something or someone

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. “Life is unfair.” Do you agree or disagree? Discuss your answer.
2. “Life is a competition.” Does that mean that you should do whatever means is necessary to win even if it’s unethical? Share your opinion.
3. People judge the others on what they do, not on what they think. What does this mean? What is your opinion on this?
4. What is your idea of fairness?