You know life is short, that you should avoid trivial pursuits, that you want to be happy. You know that you should choose the alternative path, but choosing to follow that path starts a war with cultural gravity.

• Your parents may tell you to get a real job and give up trying to be an artist.
• Companies tell you to try and get ahead in the grind.
• Friends smirk when you tell them about your startup idea.

The alternative path is never smooth. You will face difficult moments and doubt if you're doing the right thing.

When you start on an alternative path, you will take many psychological punches. Eventually, you may wonder if you made the wrong decision and give up.

So you return to the default path but feel empty. You turn to stimulants, sugary foods, philosophy, therapy and meditation and work harder, but nothing soothes the dissatisfaction.

If you're brave, you will accept that cultural gravity will always be there, so you start to take its powerful punches. But you're not phased. You know to keep going and become a person that you admire.