Dissatisfaction: Searching for the cause

Everywhere I go, wherever I look, I come across the same thing: a disappointed look — whoever I ask, whether a friend, family member, or random acquaintance, many of us seem to be vexed with where we are right now, socially, physically, and intellectually.

I guess there is this thing with our generation, that no matter what our expectations, we always feel so far from our goals which is breeding a community filled with mental health issues and inner pain.

The funny thing is that whenever we try to express this feeling of worrisome with someone about 20–30 years older than us, we are always faced with a painful truth — “when we were your age, we were living. We had much less than what you have today, but still we were HAPPY.”

From a Lebanese perspective, that is quite close to the truth. Most of our parents speak about their 20’s with such nostalgia, even though they were children of war and struggle. Maybe the difference was that they were living by the day, not knowing what the future holds for them, which brought them closer to each other and more and more adventurous.

Us, on the other hand, are always scared to put ourselves out there, scared to get out of the comfort zone, and when we do, we have this hesitation and fear of failure that keeps us from attaining what we really have in mind.

Even when we are on the path of success, we always feel as if we can do better, make more, be bigger and better, that we lose our sense of self in all this ‘surmenage’.

Another thing that I see as a reason for all this dissatisfaction is the fake connections and relationships that we can’t but keep a hold of. Many of my friends need this extra pull or push by someone to go out and experience life and take risks, always thinking twice before they meet with friends. Is this due to the lack of tight and real friendships or personal insecurities?

One thing for sure is that with the lack of inner peace, we might never feel complete to ourselves, which is why we feel demotivated in social surroundings as well. We always look for approval from others rather than get our own approval, we don’t feel beautiful unless someone else assures us that we are beautiful, but honestly speaking beauty doesn’t just permeate by our nose jobs, makeup, fillers, suits and ties, it permeates from what we make ourselves to be, full of character and not of wasteless content.

You might think that I’m preaching over here, but I’m just voicing out a concern that has been on my mind for awhile, that I always speak about but never come to a concrete conclusion. Many of us have been born into very privileged families with the ability to travel, explore, create and smile, but even though we are traveling, we leave little of our energies to explore, instead we surround ourselves with the familiar as a way to hide from things that might bring back joy and pleasure.

So instead of keeping in and being scared of emotions, I think our generation needs to get more in touch with things that will bring peace for themselves, like finding out what we truly love and enjoy, and not what society lures us into, it could be painting, it could be writing, it could be singing, or just walking more often. By doing more things that make us humble, I think life will be more fortunate for us.

Once we truly find satisfaction with the way we look, feel and act, the look of dissatisfaction may finally change to a look of gratification and faith in what we are.