#Life

A life story is a past rewritten to spotlight oneself as the leading actor. Victories are grandiose, failures are recast as instructive anecdotes, and the audience is invited to respond with admiration or pity. It stands as the pinnacle of self-deception and empathy-seeking, a spectacle where truth plays the meek supporting role.

Progress is nothing more than the act of taking a step forward. Yet that step often robs us of the luxury of looking back and brings endless exhaustion. Society praises it as a virtue and deems standing still a sin. But an unceasing march is not a goal but merely a means of fatigue. Progress can be both the path to freedom and a prison of one's own making.

Retirement is the ceremony of stepping out of a prison known as the company into a cage named freedom. Upon crossing the threshold, one is met with a duet of colleagues' envy and managers' relief. Severance pay resembles not an investment in the future but a tribute to the past. While a medal honoring years of loyalty, it also serves as a time capsule marking a new blank in life. In the hush of delivered mail, one confronts the question of whether this is a terminus or a fresh departure.

A rule of life is a tacit contract invented to calm one’s guilt by relying on the possibility of external surveillance. The more one follows the script of lofty ideals, the more one holds a private ceremony of one’s own defeat and discomfort. The pursuit of a perfect solution only increases the absurd friction between individual solutions. Each vow to comply silently redraws the boundaries of one’s rebellious impulses.

Self-confidence is a magical ritual of believing in one's abilities while discarding all realistic evidence. It whispers promises of success and doubles as the perfect pardon for shifting blame to others in case of failure. It banishes the nightmare of self-doubt but brings shadows of arrogance and blind faith in return. Sometimes, it transforms the confident into performers striking poses on cliffs of certainty, oblivious to their own impending falls.

Survival is the act of prioritizing cellular activity above all else, heedless of others’ expectations. Every pain and fear become sacred proofs by default. The thought of avoiding death often highlights the paradoxes of life. Society praises effort, yet in the end it may only demand that we continue exhaling.

A vacation is a mysterious gift granted to those temporarily released from the prison of labor. It consists of a blend of relief and guilt patched together with a budget and time far too limited for any proper repairs of mind and body. The effort spent planning the trip becomes a spectacular stage set that overshadows its true purpose of rest. In most cases, this fleeting liberation is ceremoniously approved by the whims of a boss. Yet on the final night, a devil standing behind whispers prophecies of next week’s overtime.

Wisdom is the device that justifies past failures with fresh ones. It bundles experience and theory into a palatable package to conceal life’s futility in eloquent language. A technique that seasons bitter lessons with sweet words to reassure an audience. Many even read “wisdom” as “self-satisfaction.”