Eric's Blueprint to a Meaningful Existence

For Hailee - October 10, 2023

An Introduction

In the developed world, it's not uncommon for the average person to have psychological hardships. People tend to be riddled with insecurities, internal problems, and struggles of the heart and mind. The solution that we've all been fed to believe since we were children is, "Here, take this pill and your problem will be solved". Don't get me wrong, I believe that medication CAN be an essential solution for a small percentage of people. However, most people's problems and issues in the modern age can be solved with a simple adjustment of the mind. By changing the lens of which you observe reality, you can more easily go through life identifying the root causes of these issues that you struggle with and work towards a solution within yourself. If you use medication, abusive substances, or rely on other people to solve these issues, you will only be putting a band-aid over the wound rather than healing it. People tend to rely on these things because they're easy, but when it comes to self-improvement, minimal effort ALWAYS leads to minimal results. This document is to serve as a roadmap to help you adjust your mindset and think deeper in order to permanently heal the wounds that may be conflicting you. Whether it's depression, body dysmorphia, or any other ailment of the mind; I hope that this document can help add perspective to whatever you may be going through and help you grow in a permanent and positive way. What's below is the list of things that I've learned from my 24 years of life so far, and I hope you use them to the best of your ability. This is my blueprint to a meaningful existence.
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"Gratitude is the key to happiness."

All of my life, I've looked around at the people around me and wondered why so many of them are unhappy. Humans intrinsically view their lives from a singular perspective, only looking at themselves as each day goes by. This is normal, since we only see things through our eyes and nobody else's. Problem is, this leads us to focus singularly on our problems and our issues without looking at the world around us. It amazed me to find out how many people don't even think to look at the rest of the world's problems when they think about their own. The truth is, if you live in a developed nation, you're alot better off than most of the people in the world. There are people in the world who have had their entire family killed in a bombing, or people who were sold into human trafficking, or people who were born into a jungle tribe that'll never experience the amazing things of technology. Hell, some people don't even get a shot at life because they're killed before they're even out of the womb. There are people in this world who would trade lives with you in an instant, and to take what you have for granted and be unhappy is nothing short of ungrateful. Rather than look at what you don't have and be sad about it, look at what you do have and be grateful for it. You only have one life to live, and most people don't realize what they have until it's gone.
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"Take each day as it comes."

Everything in our lives revolve around time, and time is our most valuable resource. You were born at a specific time and you will die at a specific time. You have to be at work on time, you have to be in bed on time, and any event that you've ever attended has happened on a specific time. We all live our lives abiding by these rules, and not obeying or utilizing time in an intelligent manner always results in consequences. Furthermore, everything you do and say is permanent. You can't go back in time and take it back or undo it. Therefore, the only logical solution is to obey the rules of time and adapt your mindset to work around it. If you need to be awake early the next day, go to bed early. If you only have a certain amount of time to accomplish something, use that time wisely to act before it's too late. This also goes a layer deeper if you think about your current position in time right now. Like I said before, your actions are permanent, so it's best to use your present to the best of your ability. Rather than stress about the future or worry about the past, live in the here and now the best you can. If you allow the negative thoughts of your future or past to affect your present, that bad present will become a bad past and it will lead to a bad future. The best thing to do is live in the moment and take each day as it comes. Your present is the only thing that you can currently control, so why not make the most of it?
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