What conditions allow a human being to become naturally interested in life again?
The transition from being pushed to being pulled.
A person who is pushed needs discipline every minute.
A person who is pulled wakes up wanting to engage.
I’ve always thought it was kind of funny that America was founded by people who were tired of having their money taken by the English, and now we’ve somehow ended up in a culture where we’re expected to pay extra for almost everything. You go out to eat, get a haircut, grab a coffee, get a tattoo, and there’s this expectation that the listed price isn’t really the price. Nobody is forcing you to do it, but everyone kind of expects it. It just seems strange that a country built around the idea of keeping more of what you earn has become so comfortable with the idea that the price on the sign is really just the starting point.
The people who make a difference in the world rarely start with answers.
They usually start with a question they can’t stop thinking about.
For me, that question has become:
“What allows a person to become the best version of themselves?”
Not the richest version.
Not the most successful version.
The version that wakes up curious, energized, capable, and wanting to contribute something useful to the people around them.
The more I learn, the more I realize that almost everything I study comes back to that same question.
Health.
Nutrition.
Sleep.
Purpose.
Learning.
Relationships.
They’re all different pieces of the same puzzle.
I’m not really searching for answers anymore.
I’m trying to understand what helps a human being think clearly, feel well, and become someone who can make life better for others.
Modern culture worships drama.
A minor inconvenience becomes a crisis.
A disagreement becomes a war.
A bad day becomes a catastrophe.
The tire goes flat.
The train is late.
It starts raining.
The plan falls apart.
Okay.
Now what?
There is a deep peace that comes from refusing to take every inconvenience personally.
The weather isn’t against you.
The traffic isn’t against you.
The flat tire isn’t against you.
Reality is not punishing you.
Most people suffer twice:
Once from the problem.
Then again from fighting the fact that it happened.
The perfect day isn’t a day where nothing goes wrong.
It’s a day where nothing that goes wrong owns you.
The tire goes flat.
You change it.
And then you get back to living.
I don't think most people are actually searching for happiness.
I think they're searching for usefulness.
Happiness often arrives as a side effect.
A child learns to ride a bike and immediately wants to show someone.
A person learns a skill and immediately wants to use it.
A gardener grows tomatoes and immediately wants to share them.
A grandparent learns something and wants to pass it down.
There seems to be something built into us that wants our capacities to become contributions.
If everyone on Earth felt that future version of themselves pulling them forward, I suspect we'd see less cynicism, less aimlessness, less boredom.
Not because everyone would agree.
But because people would feel needed.
Most people have no idea how capable they could be.
Not because they’re stupid.
Not because they’re lazy.
Not because they’re broken.
Because they’ve never met the fully functioning version of themselves.
Imagine spending your entire life driving a car with the parking brake partially engaged. You would think that’s just how cars drive. You wouldn’t know what was missing because you’ve never experienced anything different.
I think that’s where a lot of people are.
They think their exhaustion is normal.
They think their lack of motivation is their personality.
They think their anxiety is who they are.
They think their inability to focus is a character flaw.
They think their lack of curiosity means they aren’t interested in learning.
Then one day something changes.
They sleep deeply for the first time in years.
They get healthy.
They heal.
They remove something that has been weighing them down.
And suddenly they want to read.
They want to build.
They want to create.
They want to explore.
They want to help people.
The world becomes interesting again.
Not because the world changed.
Because they changed.
That’s the part nobody talks about.
A lot of what we call personality may actually be capacity.
A lot of what we call character flaws may actually be suffering.
A lot of what we call laziness may be depletion.
And a lot of what we call human potential never gets discovered because people spend their entire lives believing the diminished version of themselves is the real version.
The most inspiring possibility I know is this:
You may not need to become someone else.
You may not need to add anything at all.
You may simply need to remove what is standing between you and the person you were always capable of being.
Because if a human being can become less curious, less motivated, less joyful, less compassionate when they are burdened…
Then they can become more curious, more motivated, more joyful, and more compassionate when they are restored.
And if that’s true, then there are millions of people walking around today who have never met themselves at their best.
Including you.
That’s a hopeful thought.
Not because it promises that life will be easy.
But because it suggests that there may be far more inside you than you’ve been led to believe.
I drink 3 LMNT packets a day along with Gerolsteiner mineral water, and I've been doing this consistently for the last 6 months. I believe the minerals give my body something to hold onto, so it retains water properly and stays truly hydrated. As a result, my cravings, headaches, and migraines are gone. My rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis have completely disappeared. I no longer get bored easily, and staying focused on my goals and studying has become effortless.
I used to think I had ADHD, but now I don't believe ADHD exists as a real condition. Instead, I think what people call 'ADHD' is often just mineral and electrolyte depletion from drinking 'empty' low-mineral water. When we're depleted, we're ruled by our emotions, cravings, and distractions.
I drink 3 LMNT packets a day along with Gerolsteiner mineral water, and I've been doing this consistently for the last 6 months. I believe the minerals give my body something to hold onto, so it retains water properly and stays truly hydrated. As a result, my cravings, headaches, and migraines are gone. My rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis have completely disappeared. I no longer get bored easily, and staying focused on my goals and studying has become effortless.
I used to think I had ADHD, but now I don't believe ADHD exists as a real condition. Instead, I think what people call 'ADHD' is often just mineral and electrolyte depletion from drinking 'empty' low-mineral water. When we're depleted, we're ruled by our emotions, cravings, and distractions.
When I started eating like this, I was 207 lbs. A week later I’m down to 195. I eat until I’m full and don’t count calories. Most of my dinner plates are probably two servings by most people’s standards. I’m just going to keep eating this way until I get down to around 180–185 and see where things go from there.
The meals are delicious and easy to make. I’ve been using a great yuzu salt seasoning from Japan on most of them. Eating this way has removed processed foods from my diet. Once I can fit back into my 31-inch jeans, I’ll figure out what needs to be added back in to maintain my weight instead of continuing to lose it.
The stories that stay with us are rarely the ones with the biggest explosions or the most action.
They’re the ones that remind us of something we already know but have forgotten.
A child watches a movie and sees adventure.
An adult watches the same movie and sees sacrifice.
A wounded person sees hope.
A lonely person sees belonging.
The story didn’t change.
The viewer did.
That’s why certain movies, books, songs, and stories seem to follow us through life. We revisit them and somehow they contain something new each time.
Not because the story is changing, but because we are.
I don’t think being “woken up” means being given new information.
I think it means being reminded to see.
To see people.
To see yourself.
To see beauty.
To see suffering.
To see possibility.
To see that life is more than the routine you’ve fallen into.
Many great stories seem to have that effect. The hero often isn’t given something new. The hero begins to see something that was there all along.
The Scarecrow discovers he already had intelligence.
The Lion discovers he already had courage.
The journey reveals what was hidden rather than creating something from nothing.
That seems very close to your own experience.
The goal isn’t becoming someone else. The goal is becoming more yourself.
More aware.
More curious.
More compassionate.
Less judgmental.
Less afraid.
If that’s true, then perhaps great stories aren’t trying to put something into us.
Perhaps they’re helping uncover something that was already there.
And maybe that’s why people need stories so much.
Facts teach.
Instructions teach.
But stories let us recognize ourselves.
Sometimes a book changes your mind.
Sometimes a movie changes your heart.
And occasionally a story holds up a mirror and you suddenly realize:
“There I am.”
Those moments can stay with a person for decades, just like a whistle from an old movie that somehow never leaves.
@SSavson What did you have for dinner? Seems like a huge breakfast. My dinners typically keep me full until lunch. Ill have a small smoothie or a banana for breakfast.
What if the thing draining us isn’t what we’re putting into our bodies, but what we’re putting into our minds?
I can spend hours reading the news, scrolling Facebook, X, YouTube, CNN, Fox News, and walk away feeling informed but uninspired.
The same amount of time spent studying, learning, exploring ideas, or chasing a question leaves me feeling alive.
Not entertained.
Alive.
I’m starting to wonder if curiosity is as important to the human spirit as nutrition is to the body.
Today I did something small that I’m oddly proud of.
A young Marine at the gate I drive through each day has pretty severe acne. I’ve noticed it before, but today was different.
A few years ago I probably would have judged him, ignored it, or told myself it wasn’t my business.
Instead, I found myself wondering what was causing it and whether I could help.
I had three packets of LMNT in my truck. My own acne used to flare up for years, and one of the many changes I made was drinking LMNT daily in mineral water here in Japan. Whether that was the answer for me or not, it was enough for me to think, “Maybe this could help him.”
The interesting part wasn’t giving him the packets.
The interesting part was overcoming the anxiety.
The awkwardness.
The voice that says, “Don’t bother him. This is weird. Just keep driving.”
I almost listened to that voice.
Instead, I rolled down the window, shared my experience, and gave him the packets.
Will it help his acne? I honestly don’t know.
Will he buy more? Maybe, maybe not.
But that’s not what I’m most proud of.
I’m proud that curiosity beat judgment.
And I’m proud that compassion beat anxiety.
Sometimes growth isn’t changing someone else’s life.
Sometimes growth is finally doing the thing you knew was right despite being uncomfortable.
For more than 30 years I have unconsciously whistled two songs: “If I Only Had a Brain” from The Wizard of Oz and the opening whistle from Disney’s Robin Hood.
I never really thought about why until recently.
One is a song about wanting understanding. The other is the soundtrack of a traveler moving through the world.
Looking back, I realize those two themes have quietly followed me my entire life.
I used to think life was about finding answers. The older I get, the more I think life is about learning how to live with questions.
What makes people flourish?
Why do some people wake up to themselves while others don’t?
How do we learn?
How do we love?
Some questions are not problems to solve. They are companions for life.
Maybe that’s why those songs stayed with me.
The Scarecrow wasn’t finished learning.
The traveler wasn’t finished walking.
And neither am I.
What would society be like if people would stop asking, "How do I become someone important?"
And start asking, "How do I become fully alive?"
One world is full of people trying to be somebody. The other is full of people simply becoming healthy enough to enjoy being themselves.