Slave to Circumstances

I was reading a book, 'Life lessons of Swami Vevekananda' and this book has left a lasting impression on my mind.
A sort of a paradigm shift realizing that all this while I have been busy in wrong pursuits and was going round and round in a vicious circle.
Not that I have awakened or am in a spiritual bliss however there is definitely a beginning.
I have started realizing how futile life is. It is actually a journey from no where to nowhere. If that is the case and if every one has to die one day, then whats the rush all about. Why this rat race of accumulating more and more, why this defined ranks of discrimination and inequality when deep down inside all of us know that this is just a temporary halt and all are going to end the same way.
On paper I am a very liberal person who believes in equality, but when I ask this question to myself expecting an honest answer, I realize that consciously or unconsciously I have created imaginary walls around myself. I judge people on the basis of their position, their personality, their looks and their financial status in small degrees.

We have created a false sense all around us, a layer of ego that has made us slave. We are in continuous need to feed that ego. If somebody compliments me, I feel good I begin to smile, and when I hear rude and mean words I feel bad and pissed off.
Now the argument is almost all the people I know (except for some highly learned seers) would say its human to act according to situations, according to circumstances.
However that is not true, animals react to situations and circumstances, humans have inner voice, inner wisdom to guide them to proact and not react.
If you are reacting to a given situation in pre determined mode then you are a slave to that situation.
When your reaction is directly proportionate to inflation of your ego, then you are slave to your ego.
Examples are all around us, I see people who are slave to society (they would dress only what their peers approve, go to places where people want them to etc)
then there are slaves to patriotism, to country, to name and to fame. Man is in midst of extreme slavery and the real man has become buried within. through this bondage.

In that Book Swami Vivekananda gave a beautiful example and urged the youth to be free, break the shackles and think.
This example made a lot of sense to me and has changed the way I take life now, hope this makes sense to you
He says,
"BE Free, and then have any number of personalities you like. Then we will play like the actor who comes upon the stage and plays the part of a beggar. Contrast him with the actual beggar walking on the streets.
The scene is, perhaps, the same in both cases, the words are, perhaps, the same, BUT yet what difference!!
The one enjoys his beggary while the other is suffering misery from it. And What makes this difference?. The one is free and the other is bound. The actor knows his beggary is not true, but that he has assumed it for play, while the real beggar thinks that it is his too familiar state and that he has to bear it whether he wills it or not.
This is the LAW
So long as we have no knowledge of our real nature, we are beggars, jostled about by every force in nature; and made slaves of by everything in nature; we cry all over the world for help, but help never comes to us; we cry to imaginary beings and yet it never comes. But still we hope help will come, and thus in weeping, wailing and hoping, one life is passed and the same play goes on and on".


And hence be free. Instead of wasting time in crying over your circumstances and worshipping imaginary gods for a better role, accept the role as a temporary halt and find your true calling, the true reason why you came here.