Pursuit of True Fulfillment

When you realize that you won’t live forever, what changes? Do you take more risks? But what if you’re already taking all the risks you can? And when you start to question whether family is truly as meaningful as you've been told, what changes then?

When you finally understand that marriage can often signal the end of romance, what then? And when it sinks in that children may always disappoint, and parents never seem satisfied with our accomplishments, how do you respond?

As you come to see that more people than ever are vying for fame, what do you do with that realization? When everyone can finance the car they can’t afford — and even the house, too — what then? If you’re brave enough, you might conclude that none of this really matters. But what does matter? And, perhaps more intriguingly, how does it matter?

For the poor, money is a lifesaver; for the rich, it’s a scorekeeper. The poor see children as their wealth, while the rich view them as their legacy. The middle class, however, is perpetually calculating, with one house, one car, two kids, a dog, two vacations, maybe even a 13th or 14th paycheck. One person’s income pays the mortgage or rent, the other, the daycare. But what is it all for? The continuation of the species?

Originality feels rare, and even when you believe you’re original, you are not, for there are millions just like you. Perhaps, if aliens looked down from above, all they’d see is a mass of sameness. Just as an islander encountering Asians or Africans for the first time might struggle to see individual features, we too seek to stand out in ways that only make us conform more closely.

We hit our checkmarks, swallow our sadness, wage bitter fights, and shed quiet tears. Why? Maybe we're searching for something beyond what society has prescribed. But to question norms, defy society, and resist values we've been raised on isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s a lonely path full of sadness and struggle.

If you take this path for long enough, you eventually grow resilient to external pressures. At that point, you might begin to ask yourself what it is you genuinely want. And yet, even then, there will be two answers: one, what you truly desire, and two, what you think you want because of everything you’ve absorbed from the world around you.

Initially, it may seem bleak, but over time, you come to realize that there’s nothing more satisfying than impressing yourself and living your dreams. And, undoubtedly, you’ll be hated for it. But by then, it won’t matter anymore.