[froderick]

It took me a long time to realize that the universe doesn’t give a shit about me. In the grand scheme of things my life isn’t going to rate a mention. There is such a freedom in this understanding. Nothing inherently matters, so I can just make my life about what I want.

I spend time deciding what matters to me, then I fill my mind and heart with it. I don’t generally pay attention to what everyone else is doing, unless it helps me with what I’ve decided is worth doing, or makes me aware of something great that I’ve missed. I definitely don’t compare myself to some external standard. My life, my measuring stick.

At the end of my life I will die, and at that moment I will be alone, no matter how many friends surround me. In that moment, I will have things I’m proud of and things I regret, and they will based entirely on my own value judgements and experiences, not on other people’s ideas about what matters. So I focus on that. What will I regret? What will I be proud of?

It works for me, where other things have not. Perhaps this gives you a contrasting perspective. Perhaps I just needed to write it out. Either way, best of luck and may you find freedom in your own way.