Note: 03/09/2024

The Cost of Living Life Freely

I’ve lived most of my life some or the other dilemma. Questions like “What if I lose X if I chase Y” are really anxiety inducing for me. I’ve lived through life being scared by something or other that I forgot to extract happiness out of small things in life. Life had always been about chase X then chase Y and then chase Z and so on… I only thought of life as a series of achievements and thought that the only thing that is stopping me from achieving greatness is hard work. A deadly combo for life, but a feast for my anxiety.

I’ve had several experiences in life to formulate that this is not always the case. Life is not a zero sum game, and to live life on your own terms is a choice, not a luxury. The truth is that there is no safety net protecting you, and anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional. There is no roadmap to life - and that is both scary and exciting. You get to experience things that no one has ever done, but at the same time you are scared because it is overwhelming. In this absurdity that is life, always having a myopic view and going into avenues where things seem comfortable(and always protecting your “peace”) is a very un-entertaining way to live life. You get this chance only once, and if you are lucky, you get to spend around 4000 weeks on this planet. The opportunity cost to live life on your own terns is really low, but the only pre-requisite is that you have to actively seek it.

We are often scared to face the reality as it is very different from our expectations. The confrontation is hard, so the trivial remedy for it is ignorance. There is a saying that ignorance is bliss, but the problem with ignorance is that it compounds the feeling when we confront it in the future. Keep bottling things up and one day it’ll burst with a loud bang.

To live life, enjoy the overall human experience. Go out, have fun, work on things you like and always seek happiness in the discomfort life gives you.

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