The Cost of the Corporate Ladder in Life
Lifecycle
We get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I myself have recently been caught in this cycle of feeling overrun—or maybe just run down. My life has become work, and work has become my life. This is not a complaint, but honestly, I just need a break. Times are rough. I’m grateful to have a job, but I have no work-life balance. Whenever I try to achieve balance, something falls through in my personal life. I miss spending time with family, or I don’t have time to enjoy the fun parts of life—those moments that make life feel alive.
Life Plans Change
The world has changed so much over the past ten years. I did all the things I was told to do—so where has it gotten me? I’m not in a bad place, but I’m not quite in the position I want to be. I continue to push myself to be better than I was yesterday, and maybe that’s the source of my pressure. I want to be my best self in every area of life. I’m not striving for perfection, but I am striving to put myself in a strong position for retirement. My original plan was to retire by 40, but with the way the economy is, that may be off by a decade.
And yet, this is what we’re told to do: go to school, work hard, move up in the company, and eventually reach the peak of our careers. But what about those who choose a different way of living? Like the tribes in Africa or the Native communities on reservations. Life can be lived however we want, right? We don’t have to aspire to climb the corporate ladder or follow societal norms.
Unanswered Life Questions
So what am I doing? I’m striving to achieve my best self. But does my best self exist within this corporate system? I don’t know. Is society as a whole beginning to turn away from this way of living? Every morning, when I go for a walk, I see people racing to work—driving to be on time, if not early, risking their lives by speeding, all to provide for families they were told to create.
Why are we doing this? Aren’t we just on a rock floating in space? Yet, instead of enjoying the earth and our existence, we follow a prescribed path: working, creating families, going to college, paying exorbitantly for it all. In the grand scheme of things, what is it all for? Is there a point? You could point to religion, to say we’re here to serve God, which I understand. But does that require following a set program? Aren’t we supposed to find the answers to these questions ourselves?
