The higher we climb without meaning, the harder the fall feels inside.
After his third divorce, he moved from Dubai to Malaysia on an expat visa into an Oil and Gas company, hoping to start a new life there.
As a handsome Arab, he found a girl in Malaysia, and everything seemed to go well.
He had everything: his own apartments, a luxury car, a wealthy family in Dubai, and good looks.
At the beginning, the relationship was beautiful.
He showed great hospitality, gave expensive gifts, fancy dinners, and poured all his affection on her.
But slowly, his approach began to change. He became more dominant and controlling.
Even in intimacy, he acted like he owned her.
He believed money could do everything.
When she denied his advances, he compared her to other girls and body-shamed her.
Eventually, the relationship broke after she discovered he was seeing other women.
The Endless Search for Validation
Weeks passed. Being a rich Arab with plenty of money, he continued casual dating with many girls.
But he couldn’t find that same loyal girl in anyone else. He tried to reach her through various SIMs, but he was too late.
Deep inside, he was empty, constantly trying to get validation from others to prove his worth.
Many people live in this same pattern.
They have wealth, status, and looks, yet inside, they are poor. They try to hide their inner emptiness with control, power, or money on others.
The Culture of Constant Proving
It’s not only in relationships.
How many of us are giving attention to taking care of ourself, reading good books, exploring creativity, listen people patiently or living in our own pace ?
We are always chasing money, wealth, and status, driven by our lizard mind. This drive us to be always chasing, and busy. We are on this marathon race lifelong.
We are chasing our dreams to prove our worth, to show our presence, to get validated by others.
When our success is defined by these external metrics and society glorifies this pattern, we ignore looking inward and achieving a joyfully motivated modern life.
We might be carrying bitter experiences of ignorance, bullying, discrimination, lack of money, or teasing by friends in our past.
It might have fed into our subconscious mind as fear, insecurity, or a constant need to prove ourselves.
Our society, parents, and teachers all glorify external wealth as success.
We are conditioned to chase behind it. Breaking this need courage, awareness, and life spirit to live in authentic way.
The Mask of Modern Strength
Many wear the mask of strength — big laughter, confident looks, smart and independent but underneath, they carry loneliness, lack of calmness, peace, and emotional comfort.
We show our power and strength in various ways.
Even though we improved a lot in the modern world, we didn’t give the same importance to our inner awakening experience.
Because it may not be rewarding, some treat good qualities as weakness or something that cannot be measured in quantity.
That’s why we still see a lot of autocratic leaders, power games to control or steal from others, or religious politics to dominate cultural dominance above others. Instead of our power, wealth, and status using for making this world more better, we trying to satisfy our ego, mistaking control for strength and dominance for fulfillment.
Our smile is not innocent. Many carry dual personalities to win these external qualities by pleasing, faking, or manipulating instead of leading our life with integrity on our values. We looking for short term benefits or winning. When we win, suddenly changing our character and behavior and forgetting our roots. Our identity is tighlty tied to achievements.
We struggle to know what is right and wrong, narrowing our mind with less openness, and go more inward.
Our expression of love and friendship is for benefits instead of being deeply rooted in compassion, shared values, or genuine intention.
The Courage to Live Differently
We need to know how to live a better life in the modern world instead of making complaints or blaming generations.
Sometimes, we need to be a lone wolf in our own values when everyone is against us.
We need clarity in our thoughts and ideas.
We need pause time to reflect and realign.
We need to know how to live a grounded life.
We need to know what to carry forward from our history and culture.
We need a sustainable lifestyle that allows us to move slowly, live consciously, and stay rooted in what truly matters even as the world runs fast.
Only then can success become more than what the eyes can see. It becomes a reflection of who we truly are inside.
Self-Reflection
What kind of success are you chasing?
What have you sacrificed in the name of progress and was it worth it?
Are you growing toward your real wealth: peace, good health, and deeper connections or just accumulating material wealth?
What kind of world are you preparing for your children: one where busyness is copied as success, or one where they’re free to grow without fear of failure and comparison?
When your child fails, do you protect their spirit or your expectations?
And finally, what does your energy teach them each day: calmness, chaos, or compassion?
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.