WHEEL

The Cosmic Hamster Wheel: Are We Really Just Here to Pay Bills and Die?

Have you ever stopped mid-bite of your overpriced organic avocado toast and thought, What the hell are we even doing here? No? Well, congratulations, you’re part of the well-oiled machine of work, eat, entertain, sleep, repeat. Humanity’s great routine, unchallenged and uninterrupted.

Seriously, though, have you noticed how hardly anyone is asking the big questions? Like, Why are we here? What is consciousness? Where do my thoughts even come from? Instead, we accept the conveyor belt of existence, shuffling along like obedient little worker bees, convinced that a Netflix subscription and a nice pair of shoes are enough to make it all worthwhile.

The Great Distraction

From an early age, we’re trained to believe life follows a clear, non-negotiable script:

• Go to school and memorize things you’ll forget immediately.

• Get a job so you can afford things you don’t have time to enjoy.

• Find a partner, buy a house, a new car, have kids and pets, and pay endless taxes.

• Retire and finally relax, just as your body starts betraying you.

Oh, and in between all that? Be a good consumer. Buy things. Keep up with trends. Fill the existential void with streaming services and meal prep kits.

Meanwhile, the universe, massive, mysterious, largely indifferent, just waits. Waiting for someone to look up from their phone and ask, Hey … what’s really going on here?

The Few Who Ask Questions – and Make Everyone Uncomfortable

Occasionally, someone steps off the hamster wheel. You know the type, the friend who reads philosophy books for fun, the weirdo who quits their corporate job to live in a van. These people are uncomfortable for others because they silently ask the questions we’ve been too conditioned to consider.

“I’d totally ponder the meaning of life, but I’ve got a dentist appointment and a Costco run,” we say.

It’s not that exploring life’s mysteries is impossible; it’s that society has trained us not to. We’ve been handed a tidy checklist of “success” - job, house, 401k, golden retriever, and told it’s the meaning of life. Deep down, we know it’s not.

Rewriting the Mind’s Operating System

From an early age, our minds are programmed: obey, achieve, consume. Most of us never pause to consider that the “default script” is optional, a map handed down by culture rather than consciousness. Every thought we accept, every story we tell ourselves, shapes our neural pathways and dictates how we perceive reality.

But here’s the truth: your mind is a laboratory. Every day, you can experiment, question, and reprogram the autopilot that society has installed.

• Learn not for grades, but for curiosity and mastery.

• Earn not to hoard, but to create experiences and freedom.

• Build relationships consciously, not out of obligation.

• Design your life around presence, joy, and growth, not exhaustion.

This is the essence of “mind-programming” not the self-help kind with affirmations on Instagram, but the deep, radical, what-if-we-actually-questioned-everything kind.

Waking Up – Or At Least Trying

What if, just for a moment, we stopped running on autopilot? What if we questioned the script, the endless hamster wheel of work, consumption, and distraction?

I’m not saying quit your job and meditate in a cave (unless that’s your thing). But maybe we could shift perspective. Stop treating life like a checklist and start treating it like the mystery it truly is.

Because the truth is no one really knows why we’re here. Not your boss, not your government, not even that influencer hawking “high-vibrational” supplements. Yet we act as if the meaning of life has already been decided: pay bills, be mildly entertained, die.

The next time you find yourself stuck in the cycle, pause. Look up. Wonder. Laugh at the absurdity of it all. Reprogram your mind, question the narrative, and explore life as it was meant to be: unpredictable, expansive, and most importantly, yours.

Final Thought

Life is not a checklist. Life is a laboratory. And your mind? It’s the ultimate experiment. Step off the wheel. Question everything. Reclaim your curiosity.