Why I Quit Chasing the American Dream

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"Priorities" is a word that gets forgotten far too often. It's part of a national phenomenon, really. Americans boast about their way of life. We crow about our standard of living. We puff out our chests about being the world's last superpower. We try to force our way of life on others. If they just lived like us, we think, they wouldn't have the problems they do.

Americans do have it pretty good, at least compared to the rest of the world. But while we have the material things that make life more comfortable, many of us don't have lives. We often sacrifice those to get the fancy gadgets that give us status over other people. The most successful Americans hardly get a chance to live in the homes they've spent their lives working to obtain. Instead, they live in hotels and airports. At my prestigious prep school, where many students want to belong to the next generation of "most successful Americans," life moves at warp speed.

I spent all of junior high school going from 0 to 60 in three seconds flat. Forget stopping to smell the roses-I moved so fast and did so many things that I didn't even k...

... middle of paper ...

..., right?

I woke up. It took me awhile, but I woke up. I don't want success if it's going to kill me. I might miss out on a seven-figure salary and a Lexus, but I'd actually like to enjoy my time in school. So I'm going to walk to class instead of run. And as I walk, I'm going to enjoy the beautiful spring weather that's finally starting to prevail instead of running through a million "things to do" in my head. I'm actually going to read a book that's not for class. Does my new plan sound trivial? It might, but I think it just might keep me sane.

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