Sometimes, I feel that the world is too full of evil and suffering for me to make a meaningful impact. There will always be bigger problems, there will always be more that you (or anyone) can do to help. But! You have to remember that you are 1 person. You don't HAVE to do anything in this life. Just give it your hardest. When things get tough and tiring, and when you start to feel the brute end of that resistance, you have 2 options: 1) full steam ahead or 2) take a step back, take a breather, and take a moment to appreciate all that you have.
Granted, going full steam ahead will allow you to grow and become resilient to the trials of the future. But we have to remember that we are all humans. We can't yam it out 100% of the time. That's the job of a computer. We're humans. It's our duty to live out to the fullest capacity the beauty, content, and community of our shared human experience. We don't need that knob turned to the right our entire lives. Oh what a miserable existence. Be that robot that pushes the boundaries of humanity as much as you can. Just simply appreciate and be a member of humanity when the former gets tiring, it's okay!
Some mission focused people tend to forget this. Philosophically, I'm conflicted myself. Should I be telling other people that working on a cancer cure every breathing minute you possess is NOT the right way to play this game? As of right now, I'm not sure that it’s the right way. Even though, for a lot of my life, I thought it was.
Then, what’s the ideal way to split time between saving the world and saving your self? I’m not sure. But, I do know that I like when I have the time to do both. They are definitely not exclusive. This is probably selfish. No... it is selfish. But that's okay. It's okay to give yourself some time to enjoy this beautiful life. A life that doesn't better another is a wasted life, I agree. But a life not enjoyed is as well.
I don't want to ramble. I guess...just remember to take some time for yourself. Remember to sit outside, look up and around and enjoy this beautiful and fragile rock. Enjoy all the small humans you love. Because fuck... working all the time sucks, even if its on the mission you love the most. Taking time for yourself will not be the deciding factor of your success. This is not a sprint, this is a marathon. No one is perfect. Just make sure your North Star is right on the money, and work towards it. You'll get there or die trying.
I took the day off work to play video games with your friends. Because shit changes, and life goes. At some point, when you start to take on the bigger problems of life, you might not be able to appreciate what you have today—especially the people. Imagine graduating in a few years and us all getting full time jobs all around the world. We all get the sickest jobs working on the problems we love most. But the ship of spending quality time with each other, or otherwise appreciating all of our other responsibility-free childish affordances, well that ship will have long sailed.
This also made me write this poem:
"The point of life is to minimize regret"
"Life is a marathon, Take care of yourself."