Was thinking about our lives. Ever since you are in school, you have something to look forward to. When you’re in 1st grade, you know next year it’s 2nd grade and so on till you finish your undergrad.
Suddenly, you could be everything or nothing at the same time.
Those who are good at this game of eternal growth end up grinding their lives away in the PCM -> Engg -> B-School -> Consulting hell loop.
Weirdly, the determinism in growth fades away suddenly and you see people finally pursuing diverse fields.
Then, the realisation kicks in. You’ve been conditioned to chase eternal growth. That is what brings meaning to you in every part of your life. Today has to be better than your yesterday, or else it feels like you’ve failed.
I wonder how sustainable that is but till then we will continue to throw our youth away.
My 2 cents: You have a brief moment in history. Don’t spend your 10 years of prime in doing things that don’t bring you any joy. Don’t make the same mistakes all of us make chasing joys because others are chasing them.
Find your own meaning to this eternal growth.
If you’ve liked tech since the beginning It’s the best time to be in tech You get paid to do things which you enjoy and also learning more gives you scope to earn more Not a lot of population gets this as a choice
I wanted to quit this race and just live since I was in 2nd grade. Life as a race sucks. But detach from the race aspect of it.
Spend minimal amount of effort so that we earn the bread on our plate. Rest of the time, Find something fun everyday and spend it, that's what my motto is.
I have also learnt that some people are essentially happy as a baseline, irrespective of their situation. Wrong example but it's the only prominent one I recall, Bill Gates said in his interviews that he was always a happy person. I don't know if it comes naturally or can be developed by practice, but that is something I am aiming towards.
BTW, Content and Happiness can be dissociated. You can be a happy person but still aim for growth and want things.
Gates was not the most content person, he was a tyrant and super hardworking at Microsoft. That is why I find his example relevant here. I don't want to be a contented sanyasi, I would rather prefer to be a very happy capitalist cog. I just don't know how yet
@majboormajdoor Bingo! You have decided the right way for yourself and I am so happy for you.
I think you’re right in identifying that we’ve been conditioned to chase eternal growth. We have one life and if we don’t find happiness in this, what’s the point of living it? But now that we are part of that chase, how do we stop? When do we stop? Why do we stop?
There’s no stopping. Being a part of progress means that it gives life meaning, knowing that you have furthered the cause of humanity ik your own little way.
That for sure will give life meaning but is that it? Do you live to further humanity? What about furthering yourself personally?
I have been living in a constant state of existential crisis for the past few years now (Okay yes, thats a bit exaggerated but still close to the truth)
Earlier when I used to have this discussion with myself, the only conclusion i used to reach was “Life is meaningless and doesn’t have any purpose”. Post that it would be just me feeling dreadful and helpless, and somehow going to sleep.
But recently, my discussions with myself went one step further, after reaching the conclusion that Life has no meaning, I came to the realisation that since nobody’s life has any meaning whatsoever, it implies that my life can have whatever meaning/purpose it needs to have. (Is that conclusion “correct”? I dont know)
Since then, I have to tried to do things that “give me the feeling” of having some purpose in life. So far, the only valid thing I have been able to come up with is helping other people. I donate somewhere between 10-20% of my monthly income to a local orphanage, and that has helped me sleep peacefully most nights and deal with the constant existential crisis (does that make the donation selfish? Maybe…)
If you ask me, the purpose of life has to be more than climbing a self-constructed ladder.
Like, it has to be more than a 3BHK in a metro, with two kids, a car and a prestigious job at a faceless corporation, 2 weeks of vacation and a ...
Remember when you were a kid and had a school trip the next day? You sleep all excited, over preparing your...
Just trying to understand the purpose or the motive of the people on GV that keeps you going by pushing yourself. I'm sure we've all been through a phase where this feels pointless, but still we keep at it.
If there is one thing you can learn from Ambani’s wedding, it’s the fact that money is the only objective measure of power and influence in this world.
The biggest rivals politically, share the stage and greet each other The bi...
Ambani's wedding is a display of the heights of income inequality in India.
My current salary is 42LPA. I am from IIT, have 7 years of experience and work in product. Honestly, my value in the market is higher than what I’m being paid but I am very demotivated to optimise for that. When I do see less deserving p...
Hey @Hungryninja Extremely relatable and very beautiful write up I get the trouble you face. When you’ve almo...
Hi Grapeviners,
Question for those at higher level (SM+)
How do you perceive your job? Isn't that too demanding, boring and depressing (corporate politics) at the same time considering you're stuck doing it for years/decades on end...
