What @thorninmud said is a proper answer to this question and he is very, very kind to offer it. I did not offer a true answer because I don’t think it is possible to offer a true answer and have it understood. The true answer is something people have to figure out for themselves. I offered a silly answer (which, was also a true answer) in order to point this out.
The thing is that most of us have a difficult time experiencing the world directly, without the constant chatter going on in our minds telling us what the experience is about and what it means (what @thorninmud calls stories). For most people, it takes a lot of practice to experience the world directly. You have to learn how to get the hell out of your mind and into your body.
I have found that wanting to become something is dangerous for me. That’s because I am particularly unable to maintain a sense of worth if I fail. If I fail to maintain my sense of self worth, I can get depressed and even suicidal. Cool story, huh?
So I don’t have a sense of becoming—or rather, I try not to spend much effort giving any credence to any of these stories. I let them flow by like flotsam on a river.
And yet, here I am, telling a story. A story about how not to give into the impulse to tell stories all the time. Thing is, I love stories. I love making meaning. It’s my favorite game of all. But I know it’s a game and I know there’s nothing inevitable about any story or any meaning. Whatever helps me at the time. Whatever I can get myself to believe at the time.
I know that’s terribly unsatisfying for people who see life as a game with winners and losers. Where gaining status really matters. People can’t stand the meaning of life being arbitrary. They want us all to agree on who is right and who is wrong. And there is some order to society that happens when people agree on these things.
But here’s the thing. Why would you buy into a set of rules that make you wrong?