Should we aspire for more?
I hate steadiness. I hate constants. I am always angry when I see potential getting wasted. It can be talented people not doing the best they can because they are underpaid or expensive objects not serving their purpose effectively. Many try to work harder and try to push boundaries in their industry. When I read their articles or look up their interviews online, I feel guilty. I feel bad because I spent all my weekend binging shows and sleeping instead of actually learning or doing something to improve the quality of life.
I am sure many people feel the same way but are numb to this feeling. I am not a lazy person and believe me when I say this because I met a lot of lazy people and friends with some of them. But I feel guilty, especially when I encounter stories about famous people and their life stories.
Over time, I found two ways to overcome this guilt. One way is very interesting and surprisingly less popular, which is to just shut things out which makes you feel bad. Stop watching biopics. Stop reading the news. Stop listening to podcasts of successful. Very few who follow this routine religiously tell me that they are very happy in their lives and they don’t want anything to change. I wonder if they truly are happy. Most of them are bored half the time and they do the same thing again and again. They ignore innovation. They yawn at revolution. But they are not wrong. There is no definitive way of living life but judging someone else’s lifestyle is definitely not one of them. I find them closer to nature. It’s very rare a wild animal innovate their way of hunting or communication. But, could I be wrong? Figuring out a way to solve problems and overcome troubles leads to an evolution of species right?
Another way is to actually put in hours and effort in your free time to pursue your passions and interests. For some, it’s getting better at what they do. For many, it’s doing something creative like writing (like me) or painting which doesn’t get to do on a day to day basis. I would be a very very bad content writer for a media company. I can single-handedly take down Vox if I wrote for them. But no one cares what I write here. Maybe some hateful comments. But that’s okay because I am doing this for my satisfaction. I am only gonna get better. But am I changing the world? Am I making it better for current and future generations?
This internal conflict between procrastination and evaluation of outcomes from my curricular and extra-curricular efforts, suck the life out. Obviously, procrastination wins most of the time. Over the years of fighting these battles, I have learned one thing. It’s important to do one thing which helps others and in-turn brings you happiness compared to figuring out a way to write an article to get a million views or making a viral video. It’s not easy to be popular on Instagram or build a billion-dollar company. It’s not necessary to do things that disrupt the status quo. But it’s important to work towards positive change in and around you. Help someone get a better job, that someone can be you. You don’t have to read 100 books to learn how to be a good CEO when you are not a good teammate in the first place. I like to believe that we should focus on solving problems in and around us in order to be better leaders. But when we listen to stories of success all we hear about is immensely hard work and sacrifice. And we think, is it worth it? Is this really what we want? Could there be a balanced way of finding immense success?
I don’t know the answer. But I choose not to ignore the problems around me. I just wish I am more active in solving them. I hate air pollution but I can’t seem to get myself ride a bicycle. I hate climate change, I don’t seem to get myself invested in finding ways to save electricity. I hate traffic, I am not thinking about ways to reduce it. I want to improve agriculture. I want to make menial regular things automated. I want an all-around quality improvement around me and I want to do all of it and none of it because I don’t think I am qualified to do any of it. It’s that dichotomy that destroys the mental balance. So instead I am going to find out what makes me better and work towards those aspects of life and see where it goes.
I look forward to your comments and suggestions.
