Text by Sigrun Guggenberger
Image by Karl ‘Shakur’ Ndieli
Maybe one of the biggest challenges our generation faces today is to keep the focus. Don´t get me wrong, I love all the options we have, all the freedom we have. All the possibilities we can chose out of. Be it jobs or people, activities, events, relationships, concepts of life. But as much as I love this freedom and variety, as much I also sometimes feel overhelmed by it. Because sometimes I miss the forest for the trees. And I confuse what is really good for me with a new trend. And then I also wonder: Do we tend to, in the hunt for living as many happy moments as possible, chose more the short-term pleasure rather than what would make more of an effort and where the success or pleasure can only be seen later? And even if that itself not necessarily states a problem, is there a point where this way of life can also become an overkill and leads us to run in circles and makes us lose our focus? Especially when it comes to relationships or working on something you love, how difficult is it really to keep that right balance of enjoying your life, but at the same time accept that any aim ultimately will ask for making sacrifices, where you sometimes have to put your own ego in the rear and where you cannot feel an instant pleasure feeling? I am a strong advocate for the “enjoy the moment” lifestlye, but at the same time I feel it´s important to not lose your focus and wake up one day, years later of where you started and you feel like you are at the exact same spot than before. Because life is as much about effort, facing challenges and biting through, as it is about pleasure. And only if we face the full range, we can grow and harvest.
