This is the season of platitudes. The close of the academic year and commencement speeches, the acceleration of the election process and political speeches, and the Olympic games and media speeches are all upon us.

The narrative is to dream big and be willing to struggle and fight to achieve your dreams. Many people believe that to have a successful life they must construct an aspiration and a desire, set a goal with a high bar, and relentlessly and aggressively pursue the construct to satisfy all the accompanying cultural platitudes. This process is believed to give a sense of meaning and purpose to life that will ultimately lead to success and fulfillment.

Besides human beings, what other life form does this? None. Then how can this be the right formula for life?

Life is hard—for all life forms. Life is full of threats. Defenses are required. By design, life is a struggle and........

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