jessa

When asked about what’s next, I begin to imagine things like leveling up (in finances and time flexibility) and accomplishing a Herculean task. But why do we always want to become something more? When do we stop wanting to have more? Would we ever stop?

It feels like to be happy in our short lives, we need to always be on the move, always doing something great, always accomplishing, and always becoming better. It’s like the need to optimize ourselves and our lives is the ultimate goal of living. And it is exhausting.

No wonder people feel burned out, especially those who follow the gospel of hustle culture.

And the more we crave becoming more, the more we might end up measuring metrics that can never quite capture everything we are, such as our worth in our social media views and follower count. Or how many countries we’ve visited. Or how many luxury things we own. The metrics change depending on where you stand in life. But the compulsion to measure? That seems to stay the same no matter how far we’ve come.

Should the next goal always be big? Is desiring to simply exist a sin?

Perhaps, having no purpose is what makes us feel lost. What should I do next? But do we really have to go big every day and every waking hour? Can’t we just enjoy some days doing things like existing and being satisfied with what’s in front of us? And maybe the most radical thing we can do is decide that today, this is already enough.