Challenge Yourself…

'Mom, look at the color of the sand.'

'I know. Adjust your helmet, son. It is not yet habitable for us.' said a Mother adjusting the helmet of the Mars Suit while they were deboarding the Space Shuttle after One month of travel. It was 2030 and a space genius lifted humankind from the cradle of humanity to the red planet.

The pioneer made it possible with constructive government and innovative policies. His genius attempt was regarded as a child tantrum in his initial years, however after multiple failures and setbacks, he lifted them all from the earth to a new home. Everybody including his critics, the naysayers and the doubters.

After billions of rupees and millions of human hours invested, humanity found its way to Mars, the last hope of the Baby Boomers and a new home for Gen A.

The scientist with constant innovations made it possible for humanity to thrive and prosper on MARS albeit with some limitations. Life was adjusting itself and trying to boom out of the Mars Suit that was needed for roaming around Mars. The Mars atmosphere with 95% CO2 was not made for our human cells.

After a decade, Anna made an astonishing discovery that set humanity free from the confinement of the Mars Suit. Anna came up with nano-carriers that formed a shield around the subject and converted the excess carbon dioxide of the Mars atmosphere to breathable oxygen and maintain the surrounding temperature for a human body to survive. The nano-carriers removed the requirement of the suit to walk on the red soil of Mars.

Anna was given the Musk Award, the most prestigious award on Mars named after the genius who uplifted humanity to a new level.

Anna had a son named Max, a Gen Y. He was a quantum physicist. Max dreamed of travelling to a new habitable planet.

Mars was a good option compared to Earth but it was not an easy planet to live on. Years of research indicated an existence of a planet similar to the Earth in another galaxy. Mars failed to level down its CO2 to a breathable level. Oxygen was not much and that forced the majority of scientists to discover another option.

Now that another option was discovered, humanity needed a feasible way to travel to that place which was millions of light years away. Scientists and researchers had one goal in common: to reach that planet via a portal using a space wormhole.

Max was one of those scientists. He dedicated his life to opening that portal. He had studied the work of his predecessors and contemporaries, trying to find a solution to his problem, but nothing seemed to work.

He had heard that his predecessors had attempted the same thing, but failed. Max was determined to succeed, and he tried everything he could think of to open the portal. He spent countless hours tinkering with the controls and adjusting the settings, but no matter what he did, the portal remained closed. He tried to improve on the works of the other genius and build where they left off. He found it easy to improve rather than build from scratch. But that improvement was not enough.

Feeling discouraged, Max decided to seek guidance from an elder on the planet. The elder was wise and experienced, and Max hoped that he could provide some insight into the problem.

The elder listened to Max's story and offered some words of wisdom. 

He repeated the words of William Faulkner:

Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself.

He told Max that he should not simply try to be better than his predecessors or contemporaries, but rather, he should strive to be better than himself. He explained that by constantly pushing himself to improve, Max would be able to find new and innovative solutions to his problems.

Inspired by the elder's advice, Max decided to approach the problem in a different way. He began to experiment with new techniques and ideas.

Max embarked on a journey of exploration, venturing into uncharted territory by trying out fresh methods and innovative concepts. Fearlessly embracing failure as a valuable teacher, he gained insights and steadily advanced towards his goal. Through the perseverance and guidance of Anna, Max ultimately discovered the means to unlock the portal.

With the portal finally open, Max set off on his journey to the new habitable planet. It was a long and difficult journey, but Max was determined to succeed. He faced many challenges along the way, but he never gave up.

In the end, Max's determination and willingness to learn from his mistakes paid off. He reached the new planet, and he was welcomed with open arms by the inhabitants there. Max had accomplished something that no one else on Mars had been able to do, and he had done it by striving to be better than himself.

Humanity was saved once again when an individual decided to challenge himself rather than copying or impressing others.