To ramble about
I think I think too much. The mental gymnastics I undergo on a daily basis regarding nothing both fluff is fascinating and obstreperous. Personal relationships, past mistakes, picking the right time to do something, pertaining to having the letter P at the beginning of each word after the commas in this sentence, etc.
I recently invested myself in philosophy to get some leverage over the constant fluctuations in life and bank upon something for possibly good returns. Also, to avoid making finance-related jokes by semantics. Work does that to you. Putting humor is difficult to do when one is trying to pen down serious thoughts, but if you are still reading, I guess we can move ahead.
All people stick to some principles. Ironically, even not sticking to principles is a principle one follows. Philosophy is vast. Not just the number of school of thoughts, but the sheer amount of logic embedded in each method of living.
From the different school of thoughts of which I became a pupil of, my favorite pedagogue was Stoicism. Passing it through a sieve, it mainly talks about how things are not under your control, practicing your values and heeding less to what people say. The last part is commonly referred to as ‘dab on them haters’ and ‘IDGAF’ by youngsters.
If only Marcus Aurelius and the other founders of Stoicism were alive today to see how well their prolix was shorthanded.
I came across discussions which passed the idea of slowing things down.
SUCCESS ISN’T SO IMPORTANT
-Probably some failure
The idea that you don’t really need to be successful at anything to have a good life was attacked by many kindred souls in the best place of human discussions and debates.
YouTube comments.
I did chuckle along with some of the banter presented to me. But there was a certain key element which I missed. A phone call with a friend made me realize what I had miserably failed to understand.
Success is not important if you aren’t happy about it.
Wow mate, your Captain Obvious cape got tangled along a power line. Let me get it.
-Probably you.
This seems obvious only when you present it. Now once try applying it in actuality. To your daily lives.
After landing a cushy internship at one of the world’s biggest banks, I expected things to be the best they could be for me. So much money I wouldn’t know what to do with. Work for which people are queuing up in lines to get even a sliver of opportunity.
I absolutely loathe it here.
You see, even if I go to you and tell that I am working for one of the biggest private-sector agency with my work being one of the most important for the entire company, you will probably say,
“That’s cool”
This won’t suffice the sheer amount of stress I undergo each day, doing work which I have no interest in anymore.
I only chose this work because it seemed lucrative during the period of picking where I wanted to work to finish off my degree requirements. I did not pay any heed to whether I would fit in or not. The lure of money and status was good enough. It isn’t even related to my main interests. I just decided to go with the flow. Big mistake.
All the best work which I have done is something only people who know about my field will get it. For the 100 contacts which I have, 98 of them won’t even care what my projects were about.
But goddamn me if I didn’t enjoy the hell out of myself while working upon them.
You see, my obsession in getting to the best places of research activities made me do stuff which leads me to sacrifice a lot of time for it. That’s not to say that I didn’t feel a sense of satisfaction seeing the thing I designed to be actually fabricated. It’s just that after I got what I wanted, I didn’t feel anything and had no impetus to work.
Status is an incredible thing to not chase for. Did I really achieve something if I can’t post it on any social media with people flocking to tell me that I did pretty great? If the place where I go or the things I do aren’t instantly recognizable, was my work even worth appreciating?
I believe hardly anyone really cares about the achievements of others unless they look up to them or something along those lines. If someone tells you s/he got her/his degree from Yale or ran 30 km in one go, all you are going to do his give a nod of approval or maybe a few words of niceties. After that?
Nothing.
As much I despise the word, hustling is important. You have to move. Purpose is what drives a person. You are alive because even if you don’t know it or are not sure of it, there is a certain dream or objective you have which keeps you going on. Even in the bleakest of times, there was a speck of light which people sought after, and kept moving forward. So gotta keep proceeding and progressing.
Do it at your own pace though.
There is absolutely no reason to finish off everything before the age of 30 which I feel. You can work your ass off to be ahead of your age group if you want to. You can beat your competitors and batchmates in terms of financial assets. You can hold big responsibilities and head teams. You can be known to people as a young achiever who has the world in her/his hands
Maybe during that time, take a whiff at the roses. They smell wonderful, I tell you.
