My mom always told me to do what makes me happy. I know it may sound like a bad idea, but she told me a story that a co-worker had told her about a boy. He did basically everything his parents wanted him to do. He got perfect grades. He got accepted into an ivy league school. He went to medical school and was becoming a doctor just like what his parents wanted. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he did it for them. He had no desire to be a doctor. In fact, he hated the whole idea. He was already knee-deep in loans for medical school, so there was no turning back. My mom’s co-worker’s daughter had spoke to him before (since she was becoming a doctor as well), but only because her parents were trying to set her up with a “date” with him. She thought it was creepy that he always spoke of death and immediately stayed away. A few months afterwards, he had wrote a suicide note to his parents on how he tried his best to make them happy but everything he did for them drove him over the edge. In the end, he ended up killing himself.

I always come back to this story when I feel like I made some bad decisions or when I feel like my intentions are wrong. I mean, you can’t be too selfish, but you can’t be too selfless. In the end, it’s all on you.