Three Things We Seek For Pleasure

I’m so glad that this realisation came into place at this age. But it’s unfortunate because this complexity is escalating day by day. When we grow up we have this fascination with the whole idea of seeking for things. We have deviated from the word need to seek, 21^st century life has pulled our attention to seek for things even when the route to it is easy but leaves one in regression at a later stage.

Nowadays we seek for pleasure. We’ve neglected our values and principles that were embodied in us. We immerse ourselves in quite a number of things that leaves us hanging in the dark. Let me just be nostalgic a bit.

I once had a friend in December 2015. He was a boy from a disadvantaged background and probably he could not afford much. He was known as a good boy in the village but suddenly, he ultimately reserved to smoking and drinking with some guys because he felt left out and lonely.

This story touched me because this young boy is now a hooligan just because of seeking for pleasure by hanging around the wrong crowd.

We take drugs, become thieves, thugs not because we want to but because we are afraid to be alone. The feeling of being lonely drives us to a point where we seek for things instantaneously. We just have to wait for it while it comes. Things that we seek for are temporary and things that we need are long-lasting.

There are several incidents that I have observed and one of them is the idea of seeking for recognition. I suppose that’s an ultimate goal for every teenager. Sometimes as teenagers we’ve this perception to believe that wearing a fake costume makes you noticeable and admired. But in the process we lose ourselves, that’s because we want to appease people.

We all want to be recognised in some way, but if you want to change yourself just for the approval of others then it’s a dead end for you. We all work hard in everything we do and we exert too much effort to ensure that what we are doing creates a route for us to fly.

I know it’s painful not to be complimented for your work ethic and dedication to whatever that you are doing. But if we do something for impressing people and wanting them to see that we are flourishing, then we will never sustain ourselves.

We don’t have to seek recognition, it has to come naturally. Most of us prefer to walk the short route with the wrong people. Some of us quit on our goals, ideas, dreams and ambitions, just because people can’t recognise us. We need to believe in ourselves in order for us not to seek for recognition.

When we work hard, our efforts get recognised. So keep on pushing and your efforts will be acknowledged. And this means that not everything has to be perfect.

When I was growing up I was aiming for perfection, I’m a perpetrator of dead dreams, ideas and goals. Most of us had dreams, goals, ideas that could change the world.

But just because we wanted to wear the T-shirt of perfection we stopped going after them. It was Salvador Dali who said, “Never strive for perfection because you’ll never reach it.” Since I heard that quote I never again tried to wear the T-shirt of perfection because it’s fake!

Just as we fear wearing fake clothes, believing that people will judge us, why ain’t we scared to wear this fake T-shirt? Thanks to Prince Ea, this man gave me a different concept, “Have you ever seen a perfect tree? I’ve never seen it, the one that I saw has some cracks and some broken pieces.”

This made me cry because most teenagers are fixated on perfection and they believe that everything has to be perfect. Perfection does not exist anymore.

Some of us today are suffering from depression and anxiety just because we want people to realise how perfect we are. We are perfect in our own imperfections. The only thing that should be perfect is our cracks.

Whatever cracks you have, embrace them because that’s the true essence of who you are. Nothing can ever be better than those beautiful cracks.

There are two T-shirts in our life; the one of perfection and the one of your perfect imperfections. Ask yourself this question: which one have you been wearing? I hope you chose the original one because it looks beautiful on you.

I’m not writing about something that will happen after 10 years, I’m writing about something that I lived. The only thing that defeats the pain of not being enough is appreciation. You look perfect the way you are, you don’t have to put on make-up to cover your imperfections. You are your imperfections. And the test of longevity is measured by the act of embracing and living your imperfections.

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Tell us: What quote do you live by?