Photo by IsaaK Alexandre KaRslian:
How many times, sitting at your office desk, have you wondered, “What am I even doing here?”
How many times have your friends or colleagues quietly confessed the same?
How many evenings have you returned home after a long day — not just tired, but drained in a way that effort alone cannot explain?
When we look closely, the reason often traces back to drifting away from a simple, unavoidable truth we must internalize if we ever want real peace:
Everyone has to live their life on their own terms.
It sounds simple — almost obvious — but living this philosophy is one of the hardest things we’ll ever attempt. It requires a kind of ongoing awareness, a gentle but firm refusal to be pulled into the noise of the world. It means letting go of the weight of external expectations, even when they come wrapped in love.
I’ve seen this struggle most clearly when people stand at the crossroads of big decisions — like someone wanting to leave a stable, well-paying engineering job to become a stand-up comedian. The reactions they receive, though well-intentioned, rarely come from a neutral place. Advice arrives filtered through someone else’s fears, experiences, and worldview.
And that’s when we must remind ourselves of something essential.
Our lives are not identical.
Our paths are not interchangeable.
Our inner callings are not meant to follow someone else’s.
We are like ships on the same vast sea — and while the wind blows in the same direction for everyone, each ship sets a different course, sometimes in opposite directions.
It is not the wind, the water, or the weather that shapes our direction.
It is the sails — our purpose, our choices, our inner compass — that truly decide where we go.
Once we understand this, life becomes lighter. Decisions feel clearer. And our peace becomes less negotiable.
