We are all explorers.

It's a question I've always pondered in my travels. A serious question of course, not one lost in the clouds where we're all dancing, holding hands, singing kumbaya -- because let's be real, sometimes we can barely get on with our neighbours, let alone the rest of the world.

But having more resources, friends and happy people around us can make life way more tolerable at least.

For me the road to ascension is more about the people around you rather than the resources you have. By ascension I mean highering your social presence, your stance in the world, how everyone views you as a person.

It's like moving up the ranks so to speak.

Life is a funny old thing. To rise up the ranks you have to stand out more than others, go against the grain of society, do and say what others aren't, or at least thinking. It's much easier to rise up when you talk about something people deeply think about yet rarely talk about it with other people.

My claim to fame was talking about the long winter nights of the soul; those dark storms within us that break us as beings, but make us stronger in the future. Most of you will know what I'm talking about here because there are very few who have not fallen on bad times.

But to claim notoriety, you also have to not care much about what others think. It's a strange one, a perfect blend of balance between caring, but not caring. Sure, of course I care deeply about my close friends and acquaintances think, but random joe that's throwing me shade? Nah :)

The backbone of this mentality is strong friends and family that you can rely on. Something I wasn't very partial to as a young man. I wanted everyone to like me, and I had a big social sphere because of it.

Empathy and life experience weeds this out though. I think everyone goes through a transitioning period in their late twenties and early thirties where the people that they really want to be around stand out clearly, and you suffer fools way less. Thus a sort of harmony descends on your life -- where you go for what you want to do and less of what others want you to do.

Some people never reach this stage, though, always doing what they think others want them to do rather than choosing their own path.

Choosing your own path is simple, it really is. It's just finding out what you like versus what you don't like. That's it, nothing else, nothing more. Do that enough times and then you'll be forever in your own narrative, exploring your own world of opportunities.

I remember when someone once told me, you need to find your own way -- and it sounded very strange. I mean to me, I was going my own way. But eventually I realised I was being pushed and pulled by what other people wanted, rather than what I wanted out of life.

That's when I began to explore.

I've tried everything once; I'll still try everything once. How will you ever know you like something if you don't give it a try? Something I'm trying to drill very hard into my son's head. There's so much I've tried and no liked, but at least I've tried it.

One thing I've found about life today is that the brain is wired very much to the social. Unless you're a sociopath or a psychopath then chances are you've thought a great deal about other people, and make choices based on the thoughts and feelings of others -- even if it's against your own interests.

And yes, that can be a hard thing to do because there can be overwhelming amount of social pressure exerted on you to not make those choices. I've seen it in my friend circle in my youth. Sometimes staying friends with people that they just can't stand because it will disrupt the harmony and balance within the friendsphere.

I myself kept a bitter secret between friends so that we could all remain as friends, even although it completely violated every moral statute I had at the time! It all came out in the end though, they always do.

But we as humans are naturally explorers, and I think that has been weeded out of us through technology and our creature comforts around us. We no longer strive as hard as we used to because we all live comfortable lives, there is no struggle and unimaginable pain like there used to be. We couldn't even imagine the lives our grandparents lived.

That's why I dare say standing out these days is way easier than it's ever been, all you need to do is start exploring.

Very few do these days.