May I prescribe a course in reading? Read Zola's Germinal. Read Moby Dick. Leaves of Grass. Pride and Prejudice. King Lear. Les Miserables. Lysistrata. The Odyssey. Anything great. We all (for reasonable values of 'all') yearn. It's the human condition. "true ambitions" suggests a fairly naive view of the world.
To put this in context. Almost everyone who ever lived has died of starvation, a broken leg, an infection, or by being eaten, if they somehow made it through childbirth and the next 3 years of helplessness. Everyone. Even today, most people work selling shoes or insurance, or assembling things in a factory for 12 hours. As I stand here at my expensive stand up desk, outside some guy is driving a lawn mower around with a bandana around his face to inadequately protect him from the flying dust. I hope your mental model of all these people is not a lack of 'true ambition'.
We all yearn. I guess you can put yourself on a pedestal and conclude that you are different than everyone else, or recognize your brother/sisterhood, and try to learn what life is about. You have 80 years left if you are extremely, outrageously lucky. I'm not saying don't strive, but I am arguing for perspective into the human condition.
We all yearn. Life is limited. The air is beautiful today, and your wife wants some attention. Live it, instead of lamenting that you are such an incredibly special snowflake that being at the very, very top of opportunity for humans in the history of the world just isn't good enough for you. The people that just died in Typhoon Halong deserved more. We all do, but we don't get it. Take what you can, embrace the bittersweet, and live. It's all going away soon.
I think you'll be happier that way.
To the person I am replying to: I am more riffing off the things you said, than replying to you specifically. You may be perfectly happy. No disrespect intended.
edit: I yearn too. I'm not dismissing the feelings of the OP, but pointing out that it is pretty darn universal. I've found that viewpoint incredibly helpful for my own life; perhaps the people reading will as well.
To put this in context. Almost everyone who ever lived has died of starvation, a broken leg, an infection, or by being eaten, if they somehow made it through childbirth and the next 3 years of helplessness. Everyone. Even today, most people work selling shoes or insurance, or assembling things in a factory for 12 hours. As I stand here at my expensive stand up desk, outside some guy is driving a lawn mower around with a bandana around his face to inadequately protect him from the flying dust. I hope your mental model of all these people is not a lack of 'true ambition'.
We all yearn. I guess you can put yourself on a pedestal and conclude that you are different than everyone else, or recognize your brother/sisterhood, and try to learn what life is about. You have 80 years left if you are extremely, outrageously lucky. I'm not saying don't strive, but I am arguing for perspective into the human condition.
We all yearn. Life is limited. The air is beautiful today, and your wife wants some attention. Live it, instead of lamenting that you are such an incredibly special snowflake that being at the very, very top of opportunity for humans in the history of the world just isn't good enough for you. The people that just died in Typhoon Halong deserved more. We all do, but we don't get it. Take what you can, embrace the bittersweet, and live. It's all going away soon.
I think you'll be happier that way.
To the person I am replying to: I am more riffing off the things you said, than replying to you specifically. You may be perfectly happy. No disrespect intended.
edit: I yearn too. I'm not dismissing the feelings of the OP, but pointing out that it is pretty darn universal. I've found that viewpoint incredibly helpful for my own life; perhaps the people reading will as well.