A lot of people can relate to Siddhartha (from the book Siddhartha). The first chapter of the book depicts him as a people pleaser, who exceeds all expectations. However, Siddhartha fails to find happiness for himself. His undying thirst is typical for a Confucianist like him. Although I would like to be as different from Siddhartha as possible, even the most taoist people have felt unsatisfied at some point in their lives.
Siddhartha meets everyone's expectation's but his own. In page two, the author describes how Siddhartha makes his father proud: "There was happiness in his father's heart because of his son who was intelligent and thirsty for knowledge; he saw him growing up to be a great learned man, a priest, a prince among Brahmins." Later Siddhartha realizes he doesn't want to be a priest, nor a Brahmin. He makes everybody happy around him. However, Siddhartha is not happy because he feels empty inside.
This eternal uneasiness is one of the main flaws of being a Confucianist. At first, he is striving to be the person he is expected to be. Obviously, that was not enough for him, because he was striving to fit society, and in the process he neglects his own happiness. He is too busy looking for knowledge to realize that knowledge is not what he needs to accomplish inner peace. If he stays like that, he will never be satisfied.
At one moment or another everyone has felt like their life has no purpose (at least I know I have). I look into my future and think: "I have three more years of school left. I'll go to college (another four years), and probably get a masters degree (2 years)." Nevertheless, I always wonder if I will be happy then, or if happiness will come later, with a family and kids. When will I feel satisfied? I think this is the problem Siddhartha is facing, he feels his life doesn't have meaning. I think happiness and self-fulfilment is achieved with a mixture of having a purpose in life, and being able to enjoy the small things.
I fear Siddhartha's way of achieving happiness is by self-sacrifice. I hope it is not so. I'm not into self-sacrifice.
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