{"id":18077,"date":"2025-09-03T18:57:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:57:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=18077"},"modified":"2025-09-03T18:57:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T18:57:56","slug":"finding-happiness-on-your-own-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shop-cili.com\/?p=18077","title":{"rendered":"Finding Happiness on Your Own Path"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The advent of the internet and social media has brought us closer together in a way that has never before been witnessed, connecting viewers with millions of others online. In this postmodern age, it has never been easier to see what and how other people are doing: their lifestyles, their achievements, their successes.<\/p>\n

But with every advantage in this world comes an equal or greater disadvantage, and this case is by no means an exception. The most insidious quality that social media has ever brought into this world is that it has made it easier than ever before to compare yourself to your peers.<\/p>\n

Media and mistakes<\/h2>\n
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Imagine yourself sloughing down onto an old beaten-down couch after a long day at a job you\u2019re not particularly passionate about or proud of. You decide to flip on the television and see what\u2019s going on in the world. Media of any form has always served as a good distraction, and you need that to keep from dwelling on things.<\/p>\n

You flip through channels until you hit the culinary network, and for a brief moment, you\u2019re excited to see what dishes you can cobble together. Lately, you\u2019ve found that your passion lies in cooking (If only you\u2019d figured that out before spending four years of your life trying to get a B.A. in creative writing and another two years out of a job.). <\/p>\n

The show presents an immaculately kept kitchen beyond a notably gaudy and extravagant dining hall. The hall is lined with seats filled with bankers and stockbrokers in finely tailored suits, their lapels as big as your jean pockets. The chefs are busy in back, scrambling to prepare some of the most finely crafted meals you\u2019ve ever seen. <\/p>\n

Small plates of duck confit <\/em>are carefully interspersed with intricate sauces, which are arranged among the plates in fabulous curving rings and twirling lines. You can feel your mouth watering as each plate is brought forth to the camera with a diligence you\u2019ve never known. You want to know what it\u2019s like to taste them, to feel the cacophony of flavours on your tongue. <\/p>\n

But it dawns on you all too soon that you\u2019re a long way from ever getting to touch that experience, because these wealth fund managers and celebrities had what you didn\u2019t. They had vigour, knowledge and a drive to pursue their dreams. And luck. Oh, how they had luck! They were in the right places at the right time and made the connections they needed to, while you sat reading The Elements of Style<\/em> by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White.<\/p>\n

You can feel that voice in the back of your mind begin to gnaw. That voice that whispers your mistakes and insecurities like an actor reading a script. In a hurried rush, you turn off your television only to then open your phone. Perhaps there\u2019s something better waiting for you on Instagram.<\/p>\n

You scroll your finger languidly down the page until something catches your eye. A familiar face from a past you just barely remember. Perhaps they\u2019re a childhood friend that stayed within the confines of your childhood, or maybe they\u2019re a cousin you\u2019ve seen once or twice in the past eight years and only think about in passing. They might even be an ex you loved in a way you wished they loved you back. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re standing confidently in a suit or a lab coat with a bright smile upon their face, and a bold and impressive house is looming tall in the background. Their picture writes success in invisible letters. You can\u2019t pry your eyes away, try as you might, and the voice in your head gets ever louder. \u201cThat could\u2019ve been you,\u201d it snarls in a voice too uncomfortably like yours. \u201cIf only we\u2019d applied ourselves. Did the hard thing. Put in effort and took big risks.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n

In that moment, every mistake you\u2019ve ever felt you made on this road of life you\u2019ve walked becomes too bold and pressing to ignore. You\u2019ve lost where others have won. While they\u2019ve succeeded, all you\u2019ve done is fail. They have a Maserati and an eight-million-dollar mansion. You have a futon and a stack of unfinished manuscripts. They\u2019re a gleaming diamond and you\u2019re a brittle rock.<\/p>\n

You want to live like them, earn like them and succeed like them. But more than that, you want to stop feeling like a stone among diamonds. And you can<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Pandemic problems<\/h2>\n
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