The Dilemma

Life is already tough enough, and it only gets tougher when we let ourselves get consumed with the pressure from overthinking and from our surroundings. We equate the quality of life with the amount of money in our bank accounts, the glory of titles attached to our names, our placement in the society and whatnot. And it just keeps getting worse when negative thoughts get cramped up in our minds and overwhelms us to the bone.

We tend to overanalyse things and put ourselves in a bad light when we compare our life with other people’s success, or tend to put others down when we feel like the better person. We count every passing hours, days, and weeks, and exhaust ourselves with deadlines that doesn’t really exist. If you could just pause for a while, recalibrate your way of thinking, and love life more, where do you think are you going? 

This isn’t about asking you to take your time slowly or faster anymore, nor about how you should live life accordingly. Because there are really zero rules to living life, as long as you are not deliberately causing harm to the welfare of others. Time is indeed precious, others even say gold. But it is not enough reason to continuously drain yourself into living someone else’s standard of the good life. You’ll just end up moving and living for others’ and living your own less.  

The game of life 

We were all taught to win, but never to concede. We were all honed to be the best, but never to let go when all fails. We were somehow programmed by the society to live life according to milestones that were set unrealistically.

It is never wrong to compare or set goals and deadlines for your own, as long as it serves as an inspiration to keep you going. We are all individually unique beings, with different paths, aspirations, talents, passion and gifts. More often than not, comparing your own pace with other people’s success leads to self-pity and jealousy, which then again leads to negativity and crab mentality, which then again leads to something else. You get the trend right? It’s only like digging yourself deeper into oblivion. Also, the more you compare, the more you lose motivation and focus to your own growth. 

The important thing is that you’re moving and going forward, that is, towards your own state of being content. It doesn’t matter how fast or slowly you are going, just that you know you are building a stable foundation. Keep working as long as you can. Always try to push yourself to discover your hidden capacities. Nevertheless, it will still always be your call to decide what is adequate or enough. No one ever has the right to dictate you of which is which and what is what. 

Keep your head up and your passion burning 

It is really cliché to tell you to always go for what makes you happy, but it’s because it doesn’t really get old, right? Regardless if what makes you happy is for your own sake or for other people you dearly love.

It is safe to say we’ve all gone through a point in our life when everything seems to be harder and nothing ever seems interesting. We get up from bed, refresh ourselves, and then go with our daily routines. It is when life seems to be boring and tiring. That is why motivation should be taken like a daily vitamin. 

Discover what makes you really feel free and alive. Keep that fire within you and use that as your resource to bring you places. Be honest with yourself and don’t base all your actions to some fad fantasies other people made up to make other feel worse.  

The ironies 

Ironies in life are everywhere. Wherever you look, there will always be one, most even concealed to look good on the outside. Life is not always what it seems, especially in this generation where looking accomplished is better than actually being an accomplished person. There are hundreds and thousands of reasons as to why you shouldn’t base your own pace of life to your surroundings.

The more you are being positive about what you’re doing and going forward, the less likely you’ll feel the pressure. What your mind thinks is what your aura attracts. You are what you think. 

There are lots of people who became successful at an early age. You could admire them. But there are also lots of people who died early and wasn’t able to experience their victory at a long time, or some even went down as fast as they were able to rise. Then there are also people who are dead crazy rich and successful, but you weren’t well aware they don’t think they are actually on a place in life where they could actually be genuinely happy. 

Some people bloom very late in life, but also lived long to get to fully cherish their long-awaited accomplishments. Some had been changing careers for who knows how long. A lot of people even had criticized them for the longest time, but then became an icon for their hardships and will to survive. They were the people whom no one ever thought would be successful. 

Define your own and just live 

Success could mean lots of good relationships, loads of money, a big home, or simply just being able to sleep peacefully and happy every night. It could mean differently to different people. And it will always be yourself who can define your own success, because happiness or sadness is not relative. We were all honed and bred uniquely, all with distinctive characters and experiences.

No matter how hard you try to be someone else, or no matter how you push yourself to live somebody else’s life, you will still think like your own in the long run. So just let go and live life the way you really want it to be. Embrace your own character and go towards your ultimate goal, regardless of what other people instructs you to do. 

You know you are going there, and it doesn’t matter how long or how rocky the road was. You will always pick up something useful along the way, both negative and positive. You learn and survive, that’s the important thing. And the best way to make the most of your time is to live it to the fullest and to do what genuinely makes you contented and hyped up. 

Reach for the highest star, no matter how impossible it seems. By aiming for that one big thing of yours, appreciate all the little accomplishment you were able to achieve each time. You will find yourself growing each time when you look back in life. And if you would just appreciate all the things life throws at you anytime, you will come to realize how you lived a preciously unique lifetime. 

Life is not a racing game, nor is it a game at all. No one is ever a winner or a loser. Just think of the people who seem so fulfilled, but lonely inside, or the people who looks like a complete trash, but actually ultimately happy and contented with their life.