You can go to the
bottom paragraph of this post if you wish to skip to the question. The rest of it is a bit of interesting, but nonessential, discussion
The very first thing that comes to mind is the quote
limitations can be liberating. In a consumerist world where we have opened up the freedom to pick and choose, it seems there should be a lot more happiness going around for all of us.
However, the way of thought that an individual's ultimate goal is to maximize the potentials of one's life in the
here and now seems to put tremendous pressure on virtually everyone to
succeed... and thus success becomes the end goal in life.
I believe it wasn't very long ago when it was more important to study at a local college (so you can stay near your family) than having virtually every high-aiming student applying to the far, East Coast (Ivy League). Rejection rates of these universities, even after expanding the facilities, are higher than ever and don't show signs of coming back down. Application rates to colleges have skyrocketed as well. Competition is fiercer than ever. Signs of stopping? No.
Further back a few generations, isn't it true that career choices&opportunities were severely limited, or that parents would decide what the kid would do for a living? This seems very confining and archaic to many of us, but it seems that people in the older times were more willing to accept what was given to them, and without second thought.
Now, many many people regret their career choice (even if they thought it was the
one when they chose it), and many wallow in frustration because they can't decide on what they truly want to do for the rest of their lives. Too many options open up pressure, unrealistic expectations, and room for much regret. It seems there is
too much attachment to this aspect, when really, a spiritually enlightened person would realize that the specific career or profession should be less significant in one's overall life satisfaction than it is currently made out to be. Also, it seems this "pick-and-choose" attitude breeds a cloud of unhealthy egotism (and entitlement), especially in the younger generations.
I believe that people of the past, even 40 years ago, were no less fulfilled, and maybe even more fulfilled, than people today. The only thing they could do (when choices were limited) was work on the
spiritual dimension rather than attach themselves too much on the material world.
This is coming from someone who has been an atheist for all 18 years of his life. Some of the approaches in this post may be
naive in certain respects, and I would be happy to learn what other City Data posters think as well.
Having the
freedom to choose our own careers... was this beneficial to us?
Telling kids that they can "be whatever they want to be"... should this continue?
In a world where boys, and even girls, are encouraged to believe that "pursuing their dreams" and "
self-satisfaction" is of highest priority, can there be room for social harmony?
How do we keep the collective materialistic attitude in check, in a world where consumerism, electronic gratification, and the dominance of science over religion has left a vaccuum for a code of ethics&morals?