From an external perspective, Rich Roll's life might have seemed fantastic. He had attended one of the country's top universities, had been a great swimmer in his youth, and later became a successful lawyer. Yet, beneath the surface, the reality was quite different when viewed from another angle.
For some time, the demon of alcohol had taken hold of the author's life. Initially, it was a release valve to fit in with certain groups of friends, to be witty with girls, to overcome shyness, but it slowly and steadily transformed into a decline towards dependence. At one point, he experienced several blackouts while driving, was drinking gin and tonics in the shower, and was hiding alcohol from others so as not to be caught drinking. Later, some drugs were added to the mix.
On top of this, Rich had become terribly overweight, to the point where he could no longer climb the stairs without stopping. This was partly due to his sedentary lifestyle and job, combined with a lack of physical exercise, and partly due to his eating habits. Cheeseburgers, fast food, massive amounts of dairy, super-sugary drinks, plenty of red meat, ultra-processed industrial products, and every kind of snack and junk food were his daily bread.
And things weren't much better on the work front. Certainly, his job provided him with a good income, but he was no longer interested in it; he couldn't find meaning in it, it caused him a lot of stress, and he always had to work extremely long hours. From the great swimmer at Stanford University that he once was, he now found himself to be a drug-addicted alcoholic, fifty kilos overweight, and continually overworked.
Junk food, alcohol, and a comfortable life give us a temporary but illusory feeling of well-being; therefore, they are not true happiness. They represent a blind pursuit of success that leads to a warped version of it, which will ultimately make us miserable. True long-term happiness comes from being fully self-aware and consequently having the ability to pursue our true goals and our personal version of success. Because the truth is that there are no absolute truths in life. There is only what a person believes.
