The path to the Ultimate of a man's existence...

The final destination of the endeavor which society labels

as "self-improvement" or "becoming a better person" or

"the pursuit of happiness"...

The gateway to a life of having it all in a world

where more and more humans are giving in to their lesser selves...

... is one and the same.

And that is the path of going beyond who man thinks he is.

That path is one of becoming something which he may know

by another label that he dare not mention to others

should he Arrive at the destination.

If one looks over at the last decade, they will notice many things.

But one thing will stand out...

More and more humans have been boarding

the self-improvement and betterment train.

The obviousness is the inundation of both the physical and the online

world with books, research, communities, meetups, and podcasts on the matter.

Thanks to the globalization fueled by the internet, people are realizing that

once the basic needs are taken care of,

there is no point staying stuck in that comfort.

For upwards is the only way forward.

Every other direction is going backward.

But...

while the world will look at this widespread interest,

mistake the forest for the trees,

and pat its own back for allowing such a "good" and "productive"

thing becoming mainstream,

the rarest of the rare people will see the forest...

A widespread interest in a phenomenon is always the symptom of a disease.

Once I was out of university, it was only a matter of time,

that the self-improvement wagon had my attention.

The pull of the promises of progress, higher-living, abundance, etc.

that were purported by the many sources was just too strong.

I had no other option but to jump right in

and make my days about the promises of self-improvement.

But other than my slow, seemingly dull and depressing life

transitioning into being a fast and exciting one,

something else was happening...

The days of breathing in deeply the scented fumes of the promises

were keeping me from experiencing the freshness of the Now.

As I was put on course of a series of actions called for by

active thinking, I lost the ability to Act without thought.

As I was made to ride the highs of the wins and the lows

of the failures, I forgot how it feels to

not live a forced and artificial sinusoidal existence.

As I was blinded by the many goals and striving,

I was also reminded of a childhood of not

having any goals or striving.

The maxed-out but still rising interest in self-improvement is just the smoke.

So is the deep emptiness that never seems to leave the human

no matter how much they insist on improving themselves.

The fire is not "somewhere else".

The fire is something else entirely.

Humans were falling before they were "saved" by the

wagon of self-improvement overpacked with the crowd of coaches,

podcasters, researchers, and other intellect gurus.

Because the "saving" merely gave them an illusion to

latch on to, so that they can be kept from the reality

of both of yesterday and today...

You are still falling.

You are too asleep to be aware of it.

Thank you.