Frustration: The Great Mobilizer
I’ve decided to make this because I’d like to offer something of value to any and all those willing to listen, as a means to give back and pay forward some of the blessings, lessons, and opportunities I have been afforded.
However, it seems the main driver behind this new endeavor is frustration; this is the brainchild of frustration, and not just my own. Following twenty-two years of life, eighteen or so years of schooling, and countless daily reminders — many thanks to the internet — of the grand possibilities that exist in this world if one works hard and maintains faith, I am underwhelmed by the ever-worsening prospects available to our teens and twenty-somethings today. Undoubtedly, I am not the only one.
During my last year of school in particular, I found myself in conversation often with fellow students, upper and underclassmen alike, all dealing with the same anxieties. It was surprising, honestly, and somewhat relieving, but mostly frustrating. I could see the uncertainty about majors; I could feel the fear about impending career paths. By talking things over with them, I hoped to help ease their tensions — and perhaps help justify my own.
I find that too many of us are on the fast-track to average living, because it is mesmerizing to me how unique and singular our beginnings are, but how strikingly similar our ends seem to be becoming.
In this awe-inspiring age of invention, exploration, and innovation, there is still an overwhelming amount of the generic. I won’t say that dreaming large has become a thing of the past necessarily; but as reality checks have become the currency many of us buy our career paths and destinies with, fewer are willing to make their real aspirations come to fruition, for one bad reason or another. Many prefer to engage with their ambitions in other ways, for example, talking about them rather than pursuing them actively.
But you know what? I understand. I understand that whatever inherent stresses from friends, family, and the larger fast-paced culture that we have adopted has overwhelmed you to the point of no return. These pressures are real and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. A lot of strong, intelligent people have come before us and failed, and if there is one thing that is actively avoided today like the plague, it is failure, which often keeps us from even thinking about taking the first step towards a superior being, a greater way of life. I know we are all going through it. I am simply here to drop a friendly reminder that life can still be (and should be) molded into your own, considering most of us have decades after decades of living ahead of us. After all, you are the one who has to live with the consequences of your life choices, good or bad, so your life choices should eventually be your own.
In everything I do, I try to maintain a positive, optimistic outlook. I refrain from negative thinking, and I rebuke complaining — at least without action. I’m convinced these are requirements of healthy living, and I implore you to try to do the same. The absolute last thing I want to do here is make anyone feel badly about themselves. If anything, I intend to challenge you, a challenge to simply be better.
It will be difficult, but were it easy, everyone would do it.
So the question is — assuming you’ve gotten this far — going forward why should you care about anything I am saying? That is a question that you must answer for yourself, ultimately. Again, my main aim is to uplift and to encourage anyone who might be succumbing to life, to all those for whom life has gotten “real,” as folks these days like to put it. I also desire to facilitate some general dialogue where possible.
I am not the first to ever attempt to inspire, and my words could easily be falling on deaf, jaded ears. And maybe I am going to reap more from this than you will. I myself am working on finding my niche around here. Maybe we can work on it together.
Originally published at ibzkamara.com