Everyone is the main character in their own story. We all want success, defined by the cars, big houses and the summer trips. From a young age we all hear, "be a leader not a follower." But in a society full of leaders, will anything ever get done? How can we change and move forward if we are all trying to get ahead of one another to have it all? Why are we all spending our lives running if there is no finish line?

The American dream, the concept that if you work, success is attainable. We foster the idea that any common person with enough work and perseverance can rise to the top of the pile. This idea alone puts us into a never ending race. Everyone wants it all and is constantly working and dreaming of the next level. But it is only an illusion because our system is nothing but a hamster wheel.

You are born on the earth with nothing, and you die just the same. All of the material possessions and money ultimately lead to nothing. A person will work in order to attain a goal whether it be a job promotion, a bigger house, or a new car. But this race is a never ending one, once one summit is reached, another is always close in the distance.

Most are never satisfied, once one goal is chased and acquired, then there is another one. In a society that is so materialistic, there is always something bigger or newer; or perhaps even just someone that seems to be doing so much better because of the higher level of "success" they seem to have acquired. Success is already defined for many before they have given it conscious thought.

In all the movies and shows, success is painted in the same unattainable light. This is what keeps us on the wheel, constantly running and acquiring but never really getting anywhere. Wasting our time and energy on jobs that we don't like to make money that we need to survive and have some sort of status within our man-made system.

The worst part is that we are all alone in this. In the story of our life, everyone is the main character, and in the end, they will have all the success and comfort they want. But in a society of people all trying to be at the top, a lot of people have to lose. In a dog-eat-dog system where everyone is concerned solely with their own success, many will be left in the dirt. Can you imagine a system where the individual wasn't praised?

Where we all worked together for the common good. Money is not necessary because we all just work to help and uphold one another. Why are we all running a race, with false promises of hope, if we know that very few of us can really attain the promised goals?

Perhaps we can change our idea of what success really is, and maybe we can evolve to a point where success is defined by the common good. Because in that, everyone can be taken care of. In that, we can all win as opposed to beating one another down to reach new heights to satisfy our personal needs.

Many will say that this is ridiculous, that human nature exists in a way that hinders us from operating in this fashion. But if we as a people are growing an changing over time, getting better and realizing ourselves. If we remove the illusion of separation, why is this not possible? A child at a young age finds it hard to share, but as they learn, that greedy human tendency can be unlearned. Are we not all the same?

This type of growth is more than possible for us to a people on a global scale, if we only make it the focus and realize that there are better systems to be discovered and born from the ones that no longer serve us as a people. It's your decision.

What if we all worked together within the system, as opposed to working against each other to play the system? Lets all rise to the top together, let us cross the finish line holding hands. Destroy what divides us, what keeps us on the hamster wheel and stops us from realizing that we are all in this race together.

Question it, think about it, talk about it.