The Successful Life

Innate evil. Original sin. Fear of eternal damnation. These are factors in suppressing exploration. A turtle stuck in its shell, spending its life cursing its bad luck at having a shell instead of finding out what shells are good for. A world of questions to which others seek to supply answers, assuming that their word is good enough. Is it possible to be born too late? If everything has been said already then why do we continue to speak? Nothing remains the same. Everything changes. Everything.

Undeniably, society has changed, for better and worse, and will continue to do so. Knowledge is passed down but wisdom is not so easily imparted. Every great discovery came from someone who dared to challenge the status quo. Sometimes at great personal expense. The process of reaching adulthood is a narrowing experience. To do one thing you must choose to not do another. Productivity is valued more highly than introspection and modern society assesses a successful life by bank account numbers. Risks are usually not encouraged and only admired when they result in physical gain.

What would you risk to discover a new truth? How far does your curiosity go? There is no "right" answer, only self-awareness. What does success mean to you? I may never be a hero to the world but the only real challenge is to know and fulfill my own potential, whatever that may be, and try to do more good than harm.