Say, would you rather have a life of peace, or a life of success?

  Let us cut the lies and saint-like behavior—you are probably thinking of success. Many do, actually. A majority of the society, whether they belong to a varying division of culture, would rather have success than peace. Otherwise, wars wouldn't be a thing.

  But how do you define success and peace, actually? Is it that success is established through external validations, while peace is through internal preservation? Or do you not have the capacity to differentiate the two?

  I do not get the concept of success.

  It is a blade that can be wielded by those who have it, yet a chain to those who don't. To chase success is to be a subject to human greed for validations of their desires. Medals, certificates, praises—all things that provide a sense of pride to the human mind, I hate them all.

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  Yet I cannot entirely say peace is any better.

  It is a pretty intangible concept that—more often than not— is achieved through the struggles for success. They are two sides of the same coin, remove one and humanity perishes.

  So what was essential really?

  That, is something I cannot answer myself.

  But countless philosophies aimed to answer just this dilemma that somehow it became a repetitive trend to seek the meaning of existence. From the earliest philosophers to the modern-ism ideals, the search for answers has always been our driving force.

  Yet the common thread? They all meet the same state of existence that is sometimes overlooked through the struggles of society: satisfaction.

  To be satisfied is to be content and happy. Yet to reach this satisfaction is to search for peace and success. Both of which are equally intangible in a way, making the search for satisfaction one of the hardest strife to exist for humanity.

  This is the thing I was looking for.

  Satisfaction. To reach a point where zero didn't feel as bad as the society made it sound.

  And yet, as I traversed through the life of a senior high school in the most prestigious intelligence-centered academy there is, the blurrier did the concept become.

  What I thought was a search for peace was a series of unfortunate events that almost wiped the line between naivete and intelligence.

  This is not a story of my success. This is the story of my desire for peace—and how the system destroys that dream. And all of this started from zero.

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