Simo

Path identification #258

Consider how we constantly look at other people as a source of inspiration for what to do and what not to do or become. We do this especially at a young age, when our set of experiences is limited and we look at our parents, family members, and other people in our surroundings to determine how to behave in the world. This is a natural part of evolution. Currently, the pool of people we can "look up to" is far more expanded than it used to be before the Internet existed. We can peek into the lives of people from many parts of the world through YouTube videos, for example, and get a sense—though often flashy or distorted—of the possible ways of being available to us.

This is a powerful realization because we are no longer constrained to the few people in our tribe as sources of inspiration but to virtually anyone in the world. One disadvantage of this phenomenon is that evolutionarily, this creates confusion and possible heightened indecisiveness about life choices, because there are so many options that it can feel overwhelming to make practical choices on how to behave, what to believe, where to live, what profession to pick, how to select a partner, and other common human decisions that would naturally flow without much distraction for the majority of people throughout history.

So, no wonder there is increasing isolation and a creeping disruption in the way we behave and live, with many people moving out of their original town, not having children, not having a stable profession, and more. On one side, all of this fosters disconnection, lack of trust, and isolation. On the other hand, it represents a transformation, the birth of new possibilities that span far outside of the small world we used to live in, sometimes getting stuck in it.

These are some reasons why determining what we want is one of the most important things in our life, and writing about it in detail is a stepping stone toward becoming what we wish to become, living how we wish to live. There is a balance between exploration and exploitation. We can spend some time exploring all the possible options, and then narrow them down and define how we wish to live. This is not a permanent decision. Everything always changes, and so do our aspirations. But it is a commitment to the process of figuring it out, even though there is nothing to figure out, and living from the natural state of Being rather than from a place of overwhelm, fear, anxiety, and scarcity.

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