Sometimes, I really get surprised with people's priorities and goals in life. Many of us place so much of a premium on so many things that hardly carry any value in the overall journey of life just to face that crude laughter of death making us realize the meaningless life we spent our entire life in. It's not so easy to accept this feeling. In fact, many of us start realizing the meaninglessness of the aims we set during early adulthood in our forties. However, this is so difficult to accept. We do not want to feel as if we have wasted our 40 years and therefore take support of pretensions.
We pretend as if we are happy with our jobs and promotions, wife and kids, and society. Many of us start drinking liquor which has the effect of making the awareness further dull so that that nagging thought of meaninglessness is turned down. We seek company of the friends who have a similar thought pattern and similar ways of living. That makes us feel secure. Few stupids feel secure together. Probably that is the reason why everybody drunk at the party tries to convince every teetotaler to drink. Probably feeling threatened by the presence of somebody who has the courage to stay awake. Who does not need to make the awareness dull to face the world?
Everybody trying to understand the meaning of life and challenging his own thought process is a fool and useless person for such people. Slowly they become so narrow in the company of like-minded people that they are absolutely certain about life on the surface. Though deep inside they start becoming more and more restless and fearful. In the 40s to 50s fear and restlessness further increase. They need more intoxication and pretensions to get over the strong feeling of meaninglessness.
As we grow older, the body acquires more diseases. The power and support we enjoyed in our 40s and 50s go away with the retirement. Money also loses its utility. In the 60s doctors are needed more and more. The digestion system rebels against the intake of food. At times, eyes, ears, mind, and other body parts too rebel. One has so many accumulations that have so limited use. One tries to sell different products, one acquires after lifelong labor, in society. Alas, there are hardly any buyers.
I do not know why we put so much of a premium on money, social validation, and power. In fact, social validation and power too are just two sides of the same coin. A weak person tries to get himself validated by society while a powerful tries to dominate the same society. Even our relationships too seem to be centered around money, social validations, and power. Why does love take such a back seat?
In fact, out of sheer stupidity, we all keep fixated not only on money, social validations, and power but also on our ideas and self-image. We get so used to pretensions that whatever information and knowledge we acquire from this society, we start owning that knowledge and take credit for the same. We start giving names of ideas to such second-hand knowledge. We create a self-image of being intelligent. Not only that, we also try to force that image on others. This gives us intangible power.
We can examine whether it is these misplaced priorities that make our lives meaningless and painful. Can money, social validation, and power ever give us happiness? In fact, can anything ever give us happiness? Isn't happiness always an inner state? The moment we love ourselves and others aren't we naturally happy? In fact, the entire dissatisfaction and sadness seem to be the result of that inner disconnection. The moment one reconnects to oneself, one gains freedom from the fixation with money, social validations, and power. That freedom enables one to connect to others. Connect at the core. That brings the sheer joy of sharing. That brings companionship. Positive interference of two similar waves. In such a state one realizes how insignificant is the need for money, social validations, and power. Without that inner connection and similar connection with other human beings, life is always going to be meaningless just like a home without human beings.
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