The “culture” we live in, the mind-meme that is the dominant influencer of our emotions, our actions, our decisions in life says: the most important thing in life is fitting in, taking care of your loved ones, to be loved, to belong.
Sounds so nice, doesn’t it? Sounds like that is what will cause our species to survive, that is what is going to cause us to be happy.
Let’s examine if it, in fact, contributes to happiness, and to the survival of the species… i.e. if it contributes to personal growth, personal evolution, because any species that its members don’t grow or can’t grow is declining and dying.