Chasing the Dream of Wealth Until You Wake Up Empty and Realize It Wasn’t Yours to Begin With

Photo by Flavien on Unsplash

The office smells like stale coffee, burnt popcorn, and cheap cologne, a toxic cocktail that’s all too familiar.

The fluorescent lights above buzz like angry bees, and the air conditioning hums in that tired, defeated way it always does—just cold enough to make you shiver but not enough to make you feel alive.

You’re sitting at your desk, staring at a screen that’s barely blinking anymore, the cursor taunting you like some kind of sick joke.

The walls close in on you, your chair squeaks with every shift, and the clock on the wall mocks you—each tick a reminder that time’s slipping through your fingers like sand, but you can’t do a damn thing about it.

This is life. Welcome to your grind.

The people around you shuffle like ghosts, living in their little cubicles, their eyes glazed over, dreaming of the weekend but knowing damn well that they’re going to wake up on Monday morning and do it all over again.

They want the weekend, they want the vacation, they want the “dream.” But let’s be real here. The dream’s a lie. The dream’s a shiny little bait, and we’re all too hungry to stop biting.

Now let’s talk about this whole “dream” of wealth—the one that the world’s been shoving down your throat since you were old enough to understand what money was.

The one they sell you like it’s the answer to everything. It’s the kind of dream that makes you think if you just work hard enough, if you just hustle a little more, if you just keep grinding, you’ll eventually hit the jackpot.

But here’s the thing: You’re playing someone else’s game, and you’re never going to win it. You’re running a race that was rigged before you even got in the starting line.

The Lies of the Hustle

Let’s talk about the motivational speakers for a second, those smooth-talking gurus who look like they haven’t worked a day in their lives and are living off the backs of poor saps like you.

They’ve got a bunch of “success stories” and “miracles” that they’ll throw at you with a smile as wide as their wallets, promising you that you can have it all if you just “follow your passion.”

These guys tell you to “never give up” and “keep pushing” like some kind of goddamn self-help robots. And while you’re busy sweating in a corner office with a broken chair, they’re living large, probably wiping their ass with hundred-dollar bills and laughing at the people they’ve duped.

Don’t buy it. They’re in the business of selling hope, but it’s not real hope—it’s just another way to keep you on the hamster wheel, running in circles until your heart gives out.

You’ve been sold a shiny, plastic version of success that doesn’t even exist, and all it’s done is rob you of who you really are.

Dostoevsky was on to something when he said, “Man is what he eats.”

Yeah, well, you’re eating up all this crap these hustlers are feeding you, and you’re getting sick from it. What you’re really feeding on is the idea that if you just push hard enough, just work long enough, then you’ll break through to the other side and be free.

But that’s not how it works. Not in this world. You keep pushing, but you never really get anywhere. You’re just running toward something that isn’t even real.

The Bitter Taste of Wealth: It’s Never Enough

You know what happens when you finally get a taste of success? You’ll find that it doesn’t taste like anything at all.

The bank account gets a little fatter, sure, and you might buy that car you’ve always dreamed of, but deep down, you still feel empty.

Money doesn’t fill the hole inside of you. It’s like drinking a glass of water when you’re thirsty, but the water’s laced with poison.

It goes down smooth at first, but soon, it’s killing you from the inside. You’re trading pieces of yourself for things that don’t even matter.

In the end, all that stuff—the fancy cars, the big houses, the vacation homes—it’s just a distraction. A way to make you think you’ve got it all, when really, you’ve got nothing.

You’re just one more cog in the machine, churning out more bullshit for someone else’s profit. And you’re doing it willingly.

You’re chasing something you’ll never catch, and the harder you run, the farther it gets.

Happiness doesn’t come from having a bigger paycheck or a fancier car. It comes from the quiet moments, from doing what you love, from being who you are, and none of that comes from the system.

The System’s Trap: You’re Just a Puppet

You’ve been living a life designed by the system, for the system. And if you think you’re in control, you’re fooling yourself.

The game is rigged. The system was set up so you’d never win.

You’re not working for yourself. You’re working to keep the gears of this goddamn machine running, and you’re not even getting a cut of the profits.

The system is designed to chew you up and spit you out when it’s done with you. The rich get richer, and you get a seat at the table, but they’re the ones who decide what’s on the menu.

You think you’re climbing the ladder? Newsflash: the ladder’s a lie. It doesn’t go anywhere. It just keeps going up and up until you’re too tired to climb anymore, and then you look around and realize you’ve been climbing a ladder that was never meant to take you anywhere.

It’s just a trick, a distraction to keep you busy while the people at the top make all the real decisions.

Time’s a Bitch, Kid

Time’s the one thing you’ll never get back. You can waste your whole life chasing things that don’t matter, or you can take a step back and realize you’ve been living someone else’s idea of success.

Time is limited, and the older you get, the more you’ll realize just how little time you really have.

You’ll look back and wonder why you spent so much of it chasing something that was never yours to begin with. “Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils,” as Berlioz put it.

You don’t have much time left, kid. So, what are you going to do with it? Keep running the rat race, or stop and take a breath?

The Alternative: What If You Don’t Want the Dream?

You don’t have to play their game. You don’t have to chase the dream. You don’t have to climb the ladder. There are other ways to live. Maybe they’re not as flashy, maybe they’re not as profitable, but they’re yours.

You don’t have to live according to someone else’s plan. You don’t have to sacrifice everything that matters just to get ahead in a system that doesn’t give a shit about you.

In fact, you don’t need a system at all. You just need to figure out what you want. What makes you tick. What makes you feel alive.

And maybe that doesn’t involve a big house and a fancy car. Maybe it involves something simpler, something real.

What Now?

You might walk away from this thinking I’m just a bitter old man with nothing better to do than whine about the system. But here’s the truth: You’re the one who has the power.

The system doesn’t own you unless you let it. And maybe, just maybe, if you stop chasing the dream that’s not yours, you’ll find a different kind of happiness.

Maybe you’ll find peace in the chaos. Or maybe, you’ll just keep running the race until you realize you’ve already won.

But, kid, it’s up to you.

You decide.

Comments

Leave a Reply