How to know you're on track

We tend to say that what we want in life is happiness, but what does that really mean? Like, happiness all the time? That’s manic happiness, and it doesn’t sound too appealing when you google it.

“Feeling extremely happy or excited — even euphoric. Not sleeping or only getting a few hours of sleep but still feeling rested. Having inflated self-esteem, thinking you're invincible. Being more talkative than usual.”

In other words, you feel like the ruler of the universe, until you crash.
Needless to say, that doesn’t sound sustainable. Then, what do we mean? I think a better way to word what we really want is to be free of pain and suffering, which isn’t the same thing as happiness. With that said, say you’re stuck and don’t know what to do with your life, so you take out your metaphorical bow and arrow and do something as bizarre as shooting for a metaphorical cloud.
Why would anyone do that? Well, at least you’re doing something. Yes, it’s a cloud, but it’s better than doing nothing, and that kind of pain and suffering is much more desirable than the pain and suffering that come from inaction; not even attempting a shot at the clouds. So, it seems to me that it all comes down to choosing what kind of pain and suffering we want to opt in for, which begs the question, how do you find what struggle to choose? Well, doing nothing won’t get you an answer. That’s for sure. So, step one is to do something. Anything. Have something to strive for even if it’s as bizarre as shooting a cloud. Even if you feel blindfolded, keep at it, because this leads to finding what you don’t want, which is easier than knowing what you want. Then, once you’ve found a worthwhile goal and ideal, things will only get harder. But hey, it’s supposed to. As long as the associated problems that come from your endeavors are worth having, stay the course. It’s either that, or the pain from inaction, which is akin to a slow death of far beyond our physical body, but that of our soul.

To tell you the truth, at least from my experience, they both suck, but one, a little less.
On one end you have to set your mind on a task, get yourself to sit down, and do the damn thing. For best results, you must commit and be consistent, especially when you don’t feel like it. That breeds discipline. Then, when you’re done you may feel pretty good about yourself and celebrate, but it’s bittersweet. Why? Because it’s no one-and-done; it’s only really the beginning, and you know it. There’s still a whole sea to sail and the proximity of the shore is pretty overwhelming, which in a way is the beauty of it all. You’ll never be done, for once you reach shore, you look up and there’s always a new horizon.

On the other hand, you’ve got a life in which you’re jerked around by family, friends, social media, society, anything and everything but yourself. Barely doing enough work to get by, earning enough so that you can soon get back to the business of escaping from yourself. And it gets worse. In this state of existence, it’s easy to rationalize your unfortunate lot in life, giving excuses for why you’re not exercising, spending quality time with the family, or setting time aside to level up your skills. Pointing fingers at the economy or how society is sick and we can’t do anything about it. At this point, it can get even uglier, for we tend to commit the horrible crime of postponing ourselves. That is, our ideals. We fall prey to the someday mentality, saying to ourselves, “There will be a better day to start. Someday.” Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.

Instead, stick to brain rot-scrolling and watching one more episode while all things promised are postponed into the abyss of an uncertain future, and what we’re left with is a brief moment of pleasure that casts a long shadow into an unfulfilled and regretful future.

To all this doom, you might ask, “Well, aren’t these things true? Are we really not at a disadvantage here?” And the answer is, yes! They are true and have always been true, but this is the natural state of the world and cannot and should not deter us. On the contrary, it is desired, for how will we prevail if there’s nothing to prevail over? That right there is what makes up a good story. Without a worthy opponent, we are deprived of what we can truly be, so to this I say, bring on the bad guys.

To conclude, if we can’t escape having problems, we can at least choose them.
For example, I’ve been writing and rewriting these blog posts for the past 14 weeks for hours on end, and I’m still trying to figure it out; choosing the pain and suffering that come from building something online, instead of the pain that paradoxically comes from staying in my comfort zone; not putting myself out there for fear of what people will think of me, or thinking that this is too hard, might as well not even try.
At the end of the day, I don’t really know where this is going, but what I do know for a fact is where things won’t go if I choose to succumb to a comfortable, dissatisfied, conformist existence of inaction and what-ifs; never to unlock my potential and the exciting prospect of an exhilarating existence, while it lasts.

If your current reality is a manifestation of the choices you’ve made and you don’t like what you see in the mirror, ask yourself:

What decisions will lead to a more appealing view in the mirror?
What kind of post-decision reality do I want to experience?
What’s the lowest-hanging fruit I can pluck to get closer to that post-decision reality?

Whatever you choose will come with its wide array of problems, so if that which you choose comes with a fat stack of problems you’re willing to put up with, you’re on the right track.