Jesse Ojuka

I have some friends who are millionaires and I have friends who live modest lives making an average living. While observing both groups of people who seem wildly successful to people who live simple lives. I had an epiphany.

Not one of them had the answers to life.

It is one of the most daunting yet profound revelations we can make as individuals. Life is a mystery for every single person who lives. It has been since the beginning of time. The fact that life exists and no one knows how or why we are here is an endless quandary to never be answered.

Depending on our experiences and how we’re raised. We may become devoutly loyal to religion. We may chase financial success as an answer. Fleeting pleasures could be our drivers. For most of us, our answers aren’t even our own. They’re the answers society has preordained for us before birth. Tell me, how do eight billion people have the same answer. How tremendously stupid is that? It’s so painfully dumb it hides in plain sight.

During a conversation with a dear friend of mine, who like most of my friends in their twenties, feels worried and nervous for their future. He mentioned to me how he feels unsure about whether to pursue his true calling or to pivot back into a conventional mould before the window closes. Trying to weigh up which one has the least potential for pain and failure. He finds himself in a flurry of anxiety and fear. Precious glorious time, being eaten away by trepidation. As we spoke, a quote came to me that resonated with him.

“It was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.” – Joseph Conrad

Ultimately, no one can give you the answers. Anyone that claims they can, is lying to you or trying to indoctrinate you (like schools and most of society’s institutions). The best teachers, mentors of life and lessons of life give us the tools and guidance we need to find our own answers.

There is no life exempt from suffering. You just have to pick what you want to suffer for.

That is your answer to life.