If I don't write this down now, it’s probably going to slip from my head.
I just had a very stark realization. I was taking a late-night drive around the city, blasting songs, and scrolling through TikTok. Don’t tell the police :) Blame it on my short attention span; I’m just out here consuming enough brainwaves to damage my brain, purely for the dopamine hit.
But in the middle of that chaos, I came across this lady whose content stopped me in my tracks.
It wasn't really anything ground-breaking or fresh out of the box. It was basic. But it felt like the exact reminder I needed, and honestly, just what I wanted to hear at that point in time. Paraphrasingly, she said something along the lines of: You need to be patient. You need to be at ease.
She wasn't just talking about the goals, like getting to the beaches or how people perceive you, but about how you actually go through life.
For a long time, I’ve been running on a different fuel. I used to have this constant feeling of needing to show people. I wanted to prove something. I had this specific dollar figure in my head, "I need a million dollars in the bank", and I was constantly fixated on it. I’d even look for songs that subtly talked about making money just to keep that fire burning.
It’s the way capitalism makes you feel; it makes you feel like you’re always behind.
But the point I’m trying to make, and the realization that hit me, is this: Why don’t I just ease it?
Why am I rushing toward a destination so fast that I forget to enjoy the drive? Why am I sprinting for a dollar figure when, in reality, I should just take it slowly and live life?
This doesn’t negate the fact that I should go for what I want. It doesn’t mean I stop setting goals or stop getting to work. But the energy behind the work needs to change. I want to do it because I’m enjoying the process. I want to take my time. It’s about the whole journey, not just the desperate eagerness to reach the finish line.
Once you change that mindset, everything shifts.
First, it kills the envy. When you’re rushing, you’re always looking sideways to see who is ahead of you. But when you ease it, you realize: This is my own journey. I’m learning as much as I can. I’m not in a rush. I don’t need to compare myself to anyone, and I’m not moved by whatever "success story" is trending out there. I am already comfortable with myself.
I think the things we need to succeed and thrive in life aren't complicated. They are basic truths, but we need to be reminded of them often. And that moment in the car stuck with me.
I had to tell myself: Look, John, be patient. Ease it.
You don’t have anything to prove to anybody. You don’t have to play music that triggers people. You don’t have to "dunk" on your enemies or your haters. Just live your life.
People are dying every single day. Accidents happen. This life doesn’t come with a manual, and it is far too short to start harboring things that don’t make sense.
It sounds basic, I know. But when the odds are stacked against you and the pressure is mounting, you can’t think straight. You need that simple reminder to breathe.
There is time. Just ease it.