At What Cost?

Although I believe everyone should have a driving goal or purpose in life, it is also vital to have the self-awareness to understand when enough is enough or that your mission has no end.

I am often reminded of this when I watch any popular action-adventure TV show. I most recently re-watched a popular Marvel comic show, “What If.” This show explores alternate realities of popular Marvel comics stories.

In this particular episode, we see Doctor Strange trying to change something that has happened in his past. In the original story, Strange is in a terrible car crash that causes him to lose his ability as a surgeon. Through this trauma, he finds peace by becoming a sorcerer and eventually saving the world. You get the picture.

But in this rendition, the source of his trauma is different. Instead, the woman he loves dies tragically in a car crash.

After saving the world, Strange is seen sitting alone, thinking about the loved one he has lost. He realizes that he can use his powers to go back in time and stop her from getting into the crash in the first place. But he soon learns that it is not that simple. Seemingly, no matter what he does, she still ends up dying.

So, he decides to become as powerful as possible to overturn what happens. Strange discovers that if he “consumes” other powerful beings, he will gain their powers.  But, of course, many powerful beings come from the underworld; Strange consumes countless monsters from the underworld, gaining their powers, but also becoming more and more delusional in the process.

Eventually, he becomes so powerful that he is able to alter the events of the predetermined timeline, bringing his girlfriend back from the dead.

Instead of living a happy life with his now back from the dead girlfriend, the world starts literally collapsing around him.

Instead of saving the woman he loves and living a happy life with her, Strange is now a monster, and his world is dying around him. His entire universe is finally destroyed after he has to watch the woman he just saved disappear again. To end the episode, Doctor Strange is trapped in some crystal sphere to contemplate his decision for what seems like all of eternity.

We see this theme played out often in different stories of all time. Being so blinded by your objective that you can’t see that you are about to fall off the cliff.

Meaning that if you’re going to destroy yourself and others in the pursuit of your goal, it might be best to take a step back and evaluate.

Is this thing worth dying over?

Is it worth destroying my life?

This happens in families where one or both parents are super career-driven and never make time for their family. So either their spouse will choose to divorce, or their children will go up to resent them.

While it is necessary to provide for your family, you mustn’t lose your family in the process.

Have a close group of friends you trust to tell you when you are going too far and then dial it back.

This also applies to single people, people who are so highly motivated to achieve greatness but never take the time to stop and smell the roses. It’s a good thing to work hard, but it’s also a good thing to relax and not destroy yourself.