Land of the Hollow
In today's world many seek personal fulfillment. The individual wants to do whatever it takes to make them happy. Personal fulfillment is an endless array of goals or possessions to make oneself happy. An individual may want a career or aspire to be very good at a sport. Others may want to be famous and rich. Some may even believe that they can be personally fulfilled by a high end car or dream home. The most extreme example would be a false perception that drug dealing or being in a gang is fulfilling to a person seeking happiness. This is a western philosophy. Personal fulfillment is a negative ideal and the individual will become hollow inside . Three main reasons the person will become hollow is the lack of being collective, falling short of their goals, and a loss of spirituality.
The first reason personal fulfillment will leave a person hollow inside is the lack of being collective. Personal fulfillment is all about the person, not the greater good. People do what ever it takes to achieve personal happiness. In many cases the family is forgotten. The goal to make one happy often does include their family. If someone becomes rich and famous, they may lose contact with the family. The famous person may send their family a check out of guilt. The guilt is from being selfish and no longer being a part of their family. Actress Lindsay Lohan and musician DMX have these attributes. Both have turned to drug use and DMX spends very little time with his family. Another example is a loss of community. A young man may think their fulfillment can come from dealing drugs in their neighborhood. He thinks he will be rich. He puts his family and neighbors in danger by doing criminal acts to gain material things. When he brings this element to his community, he is disconnected and his sense of being a part of his neighborhood is lost.
The second reason personal fulfillment will lead someone to become hollow is when a person falls short of their goals. I have seen this happen first hand. My sister was a financial advisor for a prominent financial advisement firm. She was driven and often ignored phone calls from friends and family. My sister was also single and did not set aside personal relationships. She wanted to obtain personal fulfillment with her career. She also saved for a dream house and drove a BMW. She lost her job in 2008, when our economy collapsed. She was devastated after this happened. Deceased NBA star Hank Gathers is another example. He hoped to have a successful NBA career. One night he indulged in the use of cocaine. He felt the selfish act was part of celebrating his NBA dream coming true.
