To reach the top

I often find myself thinking back to a specific class where we discussed Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Looking back, it might have been the most influential course I’ve ever had.

Maslow’s pyramid

It appears to me that most people get stuck at the base of that pyramid, caught in the transition between Safety and Love.

There is no shame in that: staying there doesn't mean you can't be happy, but it often means you cannot reach the peak and experience those higher states of self-actualization.

Unfortunately, money is often the key that "unlocks" that safety step. This is why people claim money buys happiness.

I don’t think it buys joy, but it does buy the absence of the specific anxieties that a lack of money creates. It clears the path so you can finally look upward.

However, we often treat the pyramid like a rigid ladder where you must finish one level before starting the next.

But Maslow himself noted that we don’t need to be 100 % secure to start looking for meaning; we are often partially satisfied and partially unsatisfied in all our needs at the same time.

Life is full of surprises, challenges, and opportunities. I recently watched Eric Dane’s "last words", and it struck me: the most important thing in life is to find what (or who) you love, and to fight for that.

To "fight for what you love" means to keep pushing no matter what. Never surrender.

Being driven by something gives you a purpose that guides you through the darkest times.

That purpose is what brings a sense of fulfillment regardless of where you currently stand on the pyramid.

You can find your "peak" even while you are still building your safety net.