On my morning walk to work I usually take my earbuds out once I reach the building's elevator, but the story-telling and narration prevented me from pausing my listening. In [the high price we pay for pursuing the wrong things in life](https://youtu.be/zZcWBUZEhME), a teenage boy ponders upon his life purpose and explores his future life paths with the help of an all-knowing woman. As I listened, I began seeing the resemblance of the protagonist's story with my own. Initially, he wanted to be remembered for his contributions to the world, excelling in his field, but reconsiders the idea after the woman shows him the one-sided, sacrifice-filled future that awaits: > “There is no balance when one side of the scale requires everything from you.” He was granted his wish, albeit in a depressing way, as he was remembered through classrooms honoring his name in replacement of his family's memories with him. Instead, he finds pleasure in a more relaxed and simple life with family and friends. In a time where I'm questioning whether I want to aim for social media fame, this video grounded me. It made me realize that, instead of trying to please the masses through shallow, parasocial relationships, I should spend my social hours strenghtening my connections with the people already a part of my life. 2023-09-17 - I just re-read this story, and am glad I did spend time to reflect lmao - Right now I'm in a situation of questioning the importance of meeting new people and expanding my social circle - questioning how much I should get to know my coworkers, fellow interns, people online, how much time to spend on looking for a potential significant other - questioning what kind of impact and identity I want to have with my online presence - I just love how paradoxical it is to be able to switch your beliefs to easily, and how I'm not necessarily ashamed of myself for having such a fluid character - Because my initial messages are now being challenged by new perspectives: - for socializing, if you were to simply commit and then make good friends with the people in your life as it is, what if you grow as a person? who do you get to share that part of you with? would you just fall into complacency? - At the same time, if you continue pursuing better relationships, at what point do you just lose? - When it comes to having a meaningful impact on the world, Alex Hormozi has a point - we will be forgotten locally in around 3 generations, and our efforts will most likely fade - But this can also apply to the personal relationships we have, not just fame and wealth, so what is the best way to approach this? - I guess we do get to decide this ourselves, and I think at some point you just have to experiment and see what feels the nicest - I'm pretty happy with my online friends, my time spent with cousins every week or so, and the people I talk to on a daily basis - I think the only thing I'm missing out on is a romantic interest but I think that's out of my control and I'd rather continue just being comfortable being with myself GG