gold medal depression
Getting everything you've ever wanted still won't be enough. Sorry, but it's true. You could say, 'surely, to say that for certain, you'd need to have lived a life of opulence first?' That's one way to find out for sure. Or you could save yourself a lot of time and trauma and simply Google it. There are plenty of examples out there.
Twenty-three times Olympic medalist, Michael Phelps, one of the most decorated Olympians of all time, was arrested in 2014 in Maryland, VA, after being caught speeding and driving under the influence. He's spoken openly of his downward spiral after the London 2012 games, an event he didn't even want to participate in. He had no desire to work out, he developed a drinking problem and his life gradually spun out of control. After his DUI he even spoke about how he didn't want to continue living anymore.
On Christmas Day, 2002, Andrew Whittaker was photographed getting into the back of a limousine on the corner of Sixth Avenue and 48th in New York City, after winning $315 million in the Powerball jackpot draw. It being the US Powerball, he walked away with $114 million after taxes. The years that followed brought Whittaker a long list of arrests, multiple robberies (with thieves making off with a total of $745k in cash), broken relationships, multiple deaths in the family, several lawsuits and a horrible fire which totally engulfed his home. In 2007, his then wife admitted that she wished she had torn up the ticket.
Jim Carrey, holder of two Golden Globes, eleven MTV awards, four People's Choice awards and five Teen Choice awards, all for appearances in TV and film, tells us that there is more to life than being admired for your work. He says 'we all secretly have fantasies of doing work people admire. Then you get to that endpoint and realise it doesn't fulfil you. This has happened to me as a writer. I thought writing for an audience would fulfill me. It turns out it's not that special...You have to derive meaning from something deeper than people's admiration of your work." This comes from a man whose entire career hinges on people liking what he does - and we do. Yet even he knows that when you reach that goal it won't satiate you like you thought it would.
You could spend years, perhaps your whole life, chasing a goal, desperately scrambling towards your idea of a perfect life. But have you ever once considered what your life would look like once you get there? Can you even see beyond the vail of "I want that because"..?
It's statements like these which we use to justify just about anything to ourselves. I want that job, that car, that house, because then I'll be happy, I'll be complete, I'll be admired. That's backwards and you know it. If you want the thing, go get the thing, but be honest with yourself about why you're doing what you're doing.
Will this thing actually improve your life? Can you picture how your life might actually be better once you've done this or bought that? You've won the award, fantastic! But will that be enough for you, or will you be gunning for the next one because hey, the first could have been beginners luck? You've bought the car, quite right! But will you keep it, look after it, run it for years and really get your moneys worth out of it? Or will you trade it in once the street cred has worn off?
Will setting these destinations for yourself do you good, or make you feel inadequate once you've just gotten there? If it's the latter, maybe its time to ask yourself whether the goals you've set for yourself are actually your goals at all.
~ Aedan.