FROM SOCIETY TO "TRUE YOU" (PART-1)

Why do you want to become extraordinary? Why do you want to succeed in life? Why are you not free? Why do we keep postponing our happiness and taking sadness in advance? Why do we fear society? Why do we keep running after money and people? Why do we go to places we do not like? Why do we force ourselves to do things? 

These are the questions that I have been asking myself for a long time. I started my spiritual journey in 2020, at that time I had just got free from my 12th board exams and I had a lot of time to do various stuff so I used to do sketching, reading, learning investing and finance, and meditation & yoga. I enjoyed it a lot; even at one point, I used to do meditation for 2-3 hours a day. The overall experience was very peaceful, and I was really happy at that time. My age was around 17–18 at the time, and I had no experience with the real world, in school, all I did was study—no meditation, no hangouts, no friendship, no arts, no relaxations—nothing but study. When I used to learn this spiritual stuff, I had a very neutral view of how this world works. I used to think everyone was kind and humble; they did not hurt anyone. 

But in 2021, when I started working for a company, I realized the world was not like what I thought. It is cruel; people are not free, and people have unnecessary obligations toward society.They are in a theater (play), they have to behave according to their roles. When they are in the are in the office, they act as slaves. "Yes, sir, okay, sir, ho jaega, kya joke mara h sir apne, I have learned a lot of things, sir. I want to take leave on Monday."

They come home, and now that their role has changed, they become bosses: "Aaj khane me kya bana hai, mujhe yeh psnd nhi, nhi tum bhr nhi ja skte, padhai kro apni, kya mujhse argument krogi ab, what do you mean mann nhi hai yeh best option h tmhre liye?"

When they meet their friends, "sahi h yaar promotion mil gya tujhse party chahiye mujhe toh, uski girdfriend kitni wahiyaat h pta nhi usko isme kya dekhta h, chlo yaar Goa chlte hai."

So you can see how we change our whole being according to the environment we are in. And we keep playing this role. From a social point of view, this role-playing is really crucial. It helps in making society stable and disciplined. But the cost of doing this is unimaginable; this takes everything from you. When I say everything, I do not mean money, fame, a career, or your cars. You do not own these things; you just have the illusion that you own them, but if you see them from a different perspective, you realize that you are a guest in your house. A few decades ago, someone used to live there and they passed away; before that, someone else used to live there and they also passed away; so on and so forth.
You are just a guest on this earth; everything you think you have is just an illusion. All of this is rented and you are using it for a very short time, then someone else will have the things that you used to think belong to you.

The only thing you have in this world is yourself and your individuality. But you sold it to society for a bigger car, a bigger house, and more money. This is the stupidest thing that a human being can do. I mean, logically, you are selling the only thing you have in this world to rent out these bullshit things. Most of these things are not even useful to you. You have four cars, but you cannot travel with them simultaneously. You keep buying things to impress people that you do not even like. You are constantly competing for more money, more fame, more prestige, more success, and more career progression. But do you think that you should sit for a second and ask yourself why I am doing what I am doing and what the end goal is? 

My point here is that it is not worth it to suppress your real self to get these things. I am also not saying that money is evil or that you should not think about success. It is not about what you do; it is about why you do it.

If a person kills a human, we put him or her in prison. If another person also kills a human, we give him or her a medal because their "why" is different, although they both kill a human. The first person kills a man for himself or herself, and another person kills a man for the nation. Just like this, you can work for more success and more money, but you also do the same work for a higher purpose, for the betterment of human civilization. Doing work for money, fame, and prestige will always bring you disappointment because it is never enough, believe me. 

Two years ago, when I got a chance to join a company as a trainee, I used to think that if I had this much salary, I would be happy and would be able to do things that I wanted to do. After a year, when I got that salary, I became the happiest man. I used to think-"I have this much salary at the age of 20–21 while I am still studying at the college, now I am all set." But gradually, that excitement faded when society told me that I should have a car, I should have an expensive mobile phone, I should buy this or that, and then I started to see that my salary was nothing; I wanted more.

Then, after working a year for a company, I got a 20% appraisal, which is above average. But that sudden spike of happiness also faded, and still, I wanted more. That thing got me, and I decided to resign from my job and enroll in a competitive exam, CFA level-1, so that I could get more. This was not just happening in my career but also in other aspects of life. I wanted people to love me more and respect me more. I got sadder and sadder each day. I thought if I wanted more things, I had to work more, so I joined a library, and after the office, I started working and studying more to find a better job. I got baggy eyes and dark circles; my neck started to hurt; and my eyesight got affected a bit.

After all of this, something beautiful happened. I am reading a book, and that book hit me very hard. All of these bullsh*t things started seeming very foolish to me. I guess this article has become a bit lengthy. Let's discuss why we keep trapping ourselves in this society and how you can also break chains that stop you from flying in this limitless sky.