Collectively, we all strive to live in a perfect world, right? World peace, a sustainable environment, that non-existent middle-ground between social utopia and capitalism—these are goals that we all can pretty much can all get on board with. From the time we are young, our given generation is expected to grow up and change the world. Every waking day brings on some new issue that eventually gets added to our world’s to-do list and because of this, society’s demands and expectations only become increasingly more intense. For this reason, it seems, many people are beginning to lose touch with themselves and why it is that they live. It is OK to put the world aside, step out of the imaginary super hero costume, and focus on finding yourself for a change.
I will save you the suspense—we will never live in a perfect world. Like world peace and global equality, it is a theory that we should never stop pursuing, but, when the richest 300 people in the world have as much wealth as the poorest 3,000,000,000, achieving economic equality seems next to impossible, let alone social equality.
The real reason we will never live in a perfect world is actually quite simple, though—the word perfect, itself, is imperfect. The definition of ‘perfect’ is: “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics.” These ‘elements, qualities, [and] characteristics’ are all completely subjective and dependent on the person, place, or situation. At the end of the day, while human beings may be able to come together and agree on a lot of things, there is certainly a surplus of ideas that will never allow us to come to a consensus. So continue to be the model global citizen that you are, but take a step back and breathe every once in a while.
Why do we live? What is the point of waking up at the crack of dawn, just to sit in rush hour traffic, just to slave away at our 9-5s? Well, I believe that we live for two simple reasons: to give and receive love, and to achieve happiness.
Human relationships and interaction are the most important contributors to a person’s happiness. With that said, money is important too—not as important, but still important. While money cannot buy happiness per say, money does allow us to have experiences. Money allows us to support a family. Money allows us to give our children an array of opportunities so that we can watch them grow up into better versions of ourselves. And this, ultimately, is why some of us will grow up and take jobs we don’t necessarily enjoy. Money allows us to fund our values. Our values, someday, will define our legacies. When I grow older, I know that I will want to start a family. While starting a family is overflowing with emotional wealth and fulfillment, I also am well-aware that raising a child is incredibly expensive. On top of that, many of us want to be that ‘super parent’ who can provide 'only the best' for their child.
So if you’re ever feeling down and out about your job, remember why you’re working. If you ever feel like skipping a day of classes, remember what your goals are. If your job steps on the toes of your values at times, remember that is an inevitable part of life. If your job defies your value system, quit. Completely sacrificing what you cherish in life for money will never make you truly happy. Find someone or something that you love, set goals, be diligent, and never stop pursuing it—it will go an incredibly long way in making you a happier person.
