We have lost the plot of life

I was chatting with my psychiatrist about how exhausted I am.

The hand-holding of people who already have the resources (that I gave them) to complete what they are asking me about. The surface-level bullshit of people trying to sound cool. People only looking out for their own best interests. People creating toxic environments to get what they want. People judging others because their lives do not align with their own.

It ranges from the big things people do to the small things, like parking in front of fire hydrants.

I feel like there are too many people who are morally corrupt, self-serving, and appearance-based. When I say appearance-based, I do not just mean looks. I also mean what my lifestyle looks like to other people.

But what about what it feels like?

We have lost the plot of life: connection, community, emotion, and sympathy. As someone who has always valued these things, living in 2026 has burnt me out. I am an empathetic person, but I am burnt out to the point where I feel like I am just letting life pass me by.

I do not find it cute, nor do I care, that you are boasting about going out three days in a row and having a packed social calendar. I want to know you. I want to know how you are actually doing as a person.

I especially do not care about your social calendar when that is what you lead with. That social calendar is not who you are - it is great to share things you're excited about and what you did but we are more than that.

I feel like people are becoming their Instagram feeds. It is more about appearance than purpose. It is more about the performance than what is actually happening behind the curtain.

Your life is not Instagram, and it is not a theatre production.

We have things just to say we have them rather than to truly appreciate them.

My psychiatrist and I were talking about how this generation of kids is allowed to be on their phones all the time. If you have a child, a dog, or any relationship you are responsible for nurturing, then nurture it. Shape those minds. Invest in those relationships.

I feel like people are doing things simply because they feel they have to, rather than doing them with intention because they genuinely want to.

Having a bridal shower. Getting married. Becoming a lawyer because your parents want you to. Having kids.

It all goes back to what your life looks like from the outside.

But your life is not Instagram.

I feel like I am living in a social media-driven, AI world where people are becoming more robotic. They lack connection, yet somehow still create chaos. They cannot accept that people are allowed to live different lives and want different things. There is no empathy or consideration for how their actions affect others.

I am burnt out from the internal fight of constantly having to defend myself for wanting depth in my relationships, for not valuing parties, for wanting connection and community, and for wanting a healthy lifestyle.

I know there are people like me because I have spoken to so many who still value humans and humanity.

The plot of life is connection, community, and humanity. But people are too self-involved to remember the plot. Too concerned with how things affect them and what they want, rather than how their actions affect others.

And we enable this behavior in workplaces and family settings.

When people throw fits because they are not getting what they want, others cave. There are people over fifty acting like toddlers, and it often goes back to poor parenting.

Having a child is an investment. Invest in your child so they do not grow up to become someone else’s nightmare.

That said, I strongly believe that after a certain age, you have a choice. You can change. You can unlearn that shit.

We all have the choice not to become products of our environment.

The problem is that change requires work, and we live in a society that often chooses convenience over growth.

I say this because I am not a product of my environment.

I had an unhealthy childhood and worked some horrible jobs, but I made the effort to become my own person instead of allowing my circumstances to define me.

I write this after leaving a toxic job, after meeting more people through my small business ventures, through all of my previous jobs, and through the experience of getting married.

I am noticing a pattern of people like me who are fed up with always getting the short end of the stick, watching the wrong people win, and craving genuine connection in a world that only seems to value surface-level interactions.

I write this as I continue to notice patterns: people getting jobs not because of their qualifications, but because of who they know, yet still only putting themselves first. People who make your life hell because they feel threatened by you. People who judge you for not being “Indian enough” while they themselves are morally corrupt.

It is the judgment people pass that I would never pass myself.

I mind my own business, yet people choose to approach me with judgmental comments rather than thoughtful, insightful questions.

Ask me why I am the way that I am rather than judging me for not living the life you have chosen to live. Our lives are a choice. Our actions are a choice.

It is not a requirement that we all align with the same lifestyle.

It is the hypocrisy of wearing a turban while robbing homes. At the same time, there are people who identify with Sikhi, who wear shorts and have short hair, yet volunteer, seek to help others, and lead with community.

That is what the culture is.Wearing something that represents Sikhi means nothing if you are morally corrupt. Meanwhile, the person who does not wear a turban but lives by the core values of Sikhism is often judged based on appearance rather than actions.

We are a society so consumed with how we appear that we have forgotten to care about how we make people feel... or we just dont care cause its a ''me, me world''.