www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/a4lisq/probably_a_better_midlife_crisis_than_most_but_id/
Read the whole thread but this one is profound:
gemulikeit :
Mid-life crises bring to the fore what humanity in general, and philosophers in particular, have always worried about: the meaning of life. For instance, Achilles himself worried about his legacy and the brevity of life when Agamemnon stole Briseis from him. This is a protagonist whose name is prefixed with "godlike" and whose life is set against events that was written 2,500 years ago.
There is some solace to be found in the fact that humanity has been grappling with this problem for thousands of years.
The purpose of financial independence in my mind is to achieve
independence. Freedom. But freedom itself brings its own bevy of problems. And this (to grapple with the meaning of one's existence) is one of them. The solution is not to find another problem to solve. That is mere distraction. It is what Sisyphus would do. You (OP) have already identified it when you said:'
"What’s more, after seven to ten years, I might wind up where I am today, still vaguely dissatisfied."
/u/darbius is onto something. He phrases it in
Saganesque scientific jargon, but the message is clear: try to live in the moment. You may or you may not leave a legacy. There is a high probability that you won't. Think of the billions of souls who have come before us: despite all they have done, it only took a generation or two for history to have forgotten their names.
Instead, try to live in what Nietzsche calls "the eternal return." That is, if you were forced to live your life again and again in a cycle that never stops, the best life is the one wherein you would not change a thing. How that life would look and whether you have the moral courage to follow through are up to you. This is a burden that only you can bear.
