The All That We Have
All we really have is ourselves. People leave. People don’t understand. This isn’t going to be the happiest piece, but I hope it can be one of my most honest.
When you set out to build your own thing or change your established career path, you will get questioned. I used to hate these questions. It’s my life, why do they care?
It’s because the majority of the population lives within the confines of the system. We are born, go through education, work for 40 years (often unhappily and unmotivated), retire, and die. The system exists this way because it benefits those in power. So if somebody isn’t adhering to this system, it naturally raises curiosity. Any new, exciting, innovative development on Earth came from people existing outside the system. How else does your system develop and grow?
The most difficult thing that isn’t discussed in many places, is when you decide to exist outside the system, there aren’t many people around who will understand you.
So how can we better adapt ourselves in endeavours of building our own world outside the norm?
I’ve always been quite a private guy. I benefit from this now as I pursue writing because not many people know what I’m doing.
Get used to criticism. In fact, learn to love it. If anybody gives you something they would improve in your work, welcome that advice. There are always people who know more than us, and there are always people who know less. Some of these people who give us advice may like to see us fail. Learn to analyse the origins of any advice, and if the person providing it would have ulterior motives. Another advantage to keeping your personal circle small. You know advice will originate from a place of care. You can also use the world you’re building for advice. Look at those you admire and see what they are doing. You could even open up a communication link and build a relationship. Mentors are a vital part of any aspect of life. They provide a framework to loosely follow that allows us to learn how to get started. Over time we break the framework or start creating our own entirely. But it all originates from what we learn from others.
In the end, people leave. People don’t understand you. And that’s ok. It’s a part of life. Everyone has to pursue the life they want for themselves. Quite often, this means people come and go in our lives. But every person can teach us a lesson. It took me a while to learn this one.
If money wasn’t important, what life would you want for yourself? Pursue that one. It’s important however, if you wish to pursue something outside the normal structure of life, you’ll have good days and bad days. You’ll have days where you don’t feel motivated to do anything. It’s on these days that it’s the most important point to keep going. Keep driving forward. You’ll have to have a high level of self-motivation to pursue and build a life that will be better for you in the future. Pursue this life and if it’s one you’re passionate about, things fall into place.
You’ll have people around you who love you. But they might struggle to understand. It’s in this sense, that all we really have is ourselves. From this, we can gain strength in our personal pursuits.