Anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts—they have become the silent epidemics of our era, seeping into every breath we take and lingering in the depths of our hearts.
Somewhere along the way, we accumulated more possessions, yet our sense of security grew thinner. We have even begun to fear the very act of having, simply because the pain of loss feels too unbearable to endure.
Do you remember childhood?
Back then, our hearts were like blank sheets of paper. We did not understand the concept of “ownership,” so we never knew the fear of “loss.” Eating our favorite food felt like the greatest joy in the world; even if we couldn’t have it that day, we would simply wait in hopeful anticipation—looking forward to our pocket money on the weekend, or the simple happiness of wandering the streets with friends. We shared freely, never calculating who gave more or who took less.
But now… what has become of us?
It feels as though we have lost the most precious things in life. True friendship has faded, pure love has been tainted by conditions, and our dreams for the future have been crushed by reality. All that remains is the loneliness of empty rooms, the constant weighing of pros and cons between people, and an endless, terrifying uncertainty about what lies ahead.
Perhaps you tell yourself the same thing I do: “This is just what growing up means.”
Yes. We are like Adam and Eve after eating the forbidden fruit. We opened our eyes to the world, learned to distinguish right from wrong, gain from loss—but in doing so, we also put shackles on our souls.
We became suspicious of everything. We regret the choices we made in the past, sometimes even hating who we have become. We worry excessively about the future, imagining every possible scenario that could go wrong. These thoughts haunt us at night, stealing our sleep and replacing peace with restlessness.
We should be grateful for short videos, perhaps. Those absurd, mindless stories fill up the time when we would otherwise be left alone with our thoughts.
But the moment the screen goes dark and silence returns, the feelings come flooding back: Regret for the past, anxiety for the future, and dissatisfaction with the present…