Daily Gibberish

How much is enough?

I have a pretty good life. We live in a country that ranks very high on every quality of life metric. My wife and I make decent money (mostly her :) which enables us to eat out whenever we please. We manage to go on a vacation every 3-4 months. And I get to do remote work from home, doing some coding while our cat purrs on my lap. And yet, I have been asking myself this question for the past couple of months -- how much more money should we make? How much more should I work before I can be content?

On a whim, I had set an abstract number as the amount of asset should accumulate before I can become content. Until then, there must be "hunger" and "drive" and all the shebang that my corporate overlords want in me. But what about all those rich billionaires who are getting divorced? Even if I do everything perfectly, there is no guarantee that I would be able to enjoy the benefits of a content life when I get there. So what gives?

I thought of this analogy that someone had blogged about, that life is like a video game. You keep solving problems or challenges and that levels you up. You play long enough and then you start to see patterns which lets you strategize and increase your chances of success. Though I have played several video games, most of them highly rated, I have enjoyed only a few of them. Even some great games have frustrated me, and some others where I just coasted along to the end. I have truly enjoyed only a few games. These are the games that I still dream about, not just because of the characters or the plot line, but because of those random moments where I would just stand next to a cliff and just stare at the scenery.

So if life is indeed like a video game, I guess I have to pick the right disc from GameStop. I would need to choose a game where even moments of monotony are satisfying. Like your cat sitting on your lap, you smile and try to finish the daily blog entry :)