“…to have existed without fully participating in life — that is the deepest personal tragedy.”
— Edward Abbey
Living in Misalignment
I used to think success meant making everyone proud.
Choosing a career my family approved of. Trying to climb the societal ladder by working harder, picking up more hours, saying yes when I wanted to say no. Getting paid only to consume more. This cycle slowly became my entire identity.
But here’s the truth: I was empty. Not just exhausted, but experiencing a hopeless kind of burnout. I was living for the weekend, numbing myself, and measuring my worth by excessive productivity and external approval.
Sometime in the last few years, after hitting a wall and learning to accept some difficult truths, something shifted. I began to realize that I was denying my own worth by subscribing to a lifestyle I didn’t actually align with.
A turning point
The shift didn’t happen all at once.
There had always been a quieter part of me asking whether this was it. But that part didn’t get much airtime. The overachiever was too busy to sit with a question that inconvenient. So I pushed through. I told myself I was lucky. I shamed myself for thinking otherwise.
This continued for a while. The chronic comparison, deepening insecurities, and worsening burnout. Eventually, the turning point became a breaking point. A necessary one.
What came after was slower. A shift in perspective, turning inward instead of constantly scanning outward. Recognizing that societal acceptance is an endless, exhausting pursuit.
Redefining success
Opting out of hustle culture isn’t about quitting your job or moving to a cabin in an old-growth forest, though I’ve thought seriously about both. It’s about rewriting the rules for your own life.
Choosing presence over output. Valuing your health, peace, and relationships over income and the performance of having it together. Saying no to the pressure to keep up, consume more, and look perfect doing it.
For me this has looked like slowing down enough to actually get to know myself again. Prioritizing my own needs. Focusing on my health. Establishing boundaries that I actually hold. Reconnecting with what makes life feel full: time in nature, meaningful conversations, creativity, and people who care.
An Ongoing Recalibration
I’m not here to pretend that I have it all figured out. Hustle culture is still glorified. The pull to do more is strong, and I have to hold myself accountable regularly.
But every time I choose depth over speed, every time I stop comparing my life to someone else’s, I find my way back to something more aligned.
This record exists to document that journey. Not the highlight reel. Not the polished or perfected version. Just an honest place to talk about what it means to start moving through the world with more intention. One that is lighter, slower, and profoundly human.
If any of this resonates, you’re in the right place.
