The Paradox of Striving

MOVE

I was watching a cricket match last week. Not the main team - Team A players. Two countries, unknown names, empty stadium visible whenever the camera panned wide.

Same white ball. Same pitch. Same effort in every delivery, every shot. But I found myself judging. Fast.

These guys are giving it their all, but most will never make it to the main team. Wasteful effort.

That thought appeared. And then another thought - why am I calling their effort wasteful?

They’re batting right now. Running between wickets right now. Diving to stop boundaries right now. In THIS moment, what’s incomplete about their effort?

But my mind had already moved ahead. It had jumped to: They’re striving to become something they’re not. Most won’t make it. Therefore, wasteful.
The judgment was instant. And brutal.

SEE

Here’s what I saw: I wasn’t judging the cricket. I was judging the gap between where they are and where they’re trying to reach.

The empty stadium? That was external validation of my judgment. See? The crowd agrees. This doesn’t matter.

But then I caught myself. The witness in me separated from the judging mind.
Why was I rating their effort based on future outcomes? Why was the striving itself a problem?

Ashtavakra Gita says you’re already complete. You are not becoming anything - you already ARE. The soul doesn’t improve. It doesn’t evolve. It simply IS.

So why strive at all?

This is where it gets uncomfortable. Because I’ve spent 20+ years striving. Moving from print media to insurance to retail to batteries to startups. Learning Excel, then PowerPoint, then financial modeling, then coding basics.

Was all that striving… wasteful?
If I’m already complete as I am, why the hell was I trying to become a better analyst, a better CFO, a better COO?

REFLECT

The paradox sits here: We are complete. And we strive. Both are true.

The Team A player is complete while batting. His effort in this moment is whole. Not partial. Not waiting for selection to become complete.

But he’s also practicing to make the main team. That drive exists.
So where’s the waste?

The waste is in the mental narrative: “I’m not enough until I make it.”

That’s the trap. Not the striving. The STORY about the striving.

When I moved from insurance to retail, I wasn’t incomplete. I was just moving. Learning financial modeling wasn’t fixing a broken soul. It was just… learning.

But my mind added the narrative: You need this skill to be valuable. You need that promotion to matter. You need this outcome to be complete.

That narrative - that’s the wasteful thought.

The striving itself? That’s just energy in motion. A batsman playing a shot. A CFO learning cash flow management.

Ashtavakra doesn’t say “stop moving.” He says “stop believing you’re incomplete.”

The Team A player can practice every day, work toward selection, give his all - while simultaneously knowing he’s already whole.

That’s not contradiction. That’s clarity.
Why do we want to be better than what we are?

We don’t. That’s the wrong question.

The question is: Can we move, strive, act - without the mental weight of “I’m not enough until…”?

Can I learn a new skill while knowing I’m complete right now?

Can I build a business while knowing my worth isn’t tied to its success?

Can I parent, lead, write, create - without attaching my identity to outcomes?

That’s the practice. Not accepting mediocrity. Not giving up striving.
Accepting completeness WHILE striving.

The Team A player might never make the main team. But if he’s batting with full presence - no mental commentary about future selection, just the ball and the bat and this moment - his effort isn’t wasteful. It’s complete.

The waste is when I watch him and judge: Poor guy. All that effort. Probably won’t make it.

That judgment reveals MY mental trap. Not his reality.

So I’m done judging empty stadiums. Done rating efforts based on future outcomes.

The striving isn’t the problem. The story about the striving is.

And the witness - the soul - sees both. Sees the striving. Sees the story. And remains untouched by either.