What do you want?

[forgotten_aria]

How does one figure out what they want? Not what they think other people want them to want or what they've been told all their life they're supposed to want. Is this hard for most people, or do most people always know what they want?

Comments

[dcltdw]

Zeroing in on an earlier comment upthread:
"but what do I really want to add to the world and do with my remaining years."

I've recently had to remind myself of stuff I subscribe to.

1, there are a few geniuses who are changing the world. I am not one of them.
2, I could sacrifice a great amount and go work for those geniuses. (E.g., quit my job, possibly have to divorce Alyse, and try to go get a job at SpaceX.)
3, from EMS, I learned: everyone's number comes up at some point. Mine might come up later today.
4, "a butterfly in South America flaps its wing and causes a hurricane in North America" is, I believe, not an accurate description of fractals and ripple effects, but by the same token, I believe it is accurate that there's some truth to it.

So I follow "think globally, act locally", writ large. I cannot make the world a better place, but I can make/inspire/lead the people around me to be a bit better, and that's useful.

The particulars, then, are just the medium, but the medium itself isn't the relevant part to my answer.