I'm happy, young, single, free, and successful.
The last time I was at this pool, I was fourteen. I was on a family vacation with my mom, stepdad, brother, sister, and grandma. Little did I know that would be the last time over ten years. The last time I would be on a family vacation. The last time at an all inclusive five star resort in Mexico.
The last time I would be care-free and at peace.
Well, until today.
I'm here alone. I don't know anyone. And yet, I'm not lonely. I'm happy.
Most people never find the definition of happy. Most people say happiness doesn't exist. Those people are tethered by their own bitterness and unwillingness to find something meaningful in life that inspires them to do better, to be better.
I know what it is, though. And so do my parents, my friends, the rest of my family. I come from a long line of successful people. I was born into privilege and I was born into a comfortable life. But I was not born into the money I have today. I worked hard for it and I deserve it, just as I and everyone else deserves to be happy.
My mother is a CEO of a tech company. My father is a famous composer. My stepdad, he works in insurance. An anomaly from the rest of us, but it's not like I care. He only married for the money.
My grandmother was a revered professor, and my grandfather as well. My great-grandmother and her husband started one of the biggest real estate firms in China at the time. They had close to fifteen children. For reasons I do not know, other than the fact that it was a different time back then. Only thirteen are still alive, but they all had successful jobs before they retired, ranging from inventors to scholars to renowned artists. And their children, eminent scientists and whatnot.
My brother is in college earning his MBA, although he already is co-president of a law firm. My sister owns about a dozen of the nicest hotels I've ever been in.
We are all successful. We know our privileges, and we know our place. We know how lucky we are but we also know that we deserve everything we have.
I know I sound stuck-up. Everyone tells me that. However, I think I am the most humble in my immediate family. I never brag about my career, money, or the awards I've received.
I'm a doctor. More precisely, a plastic surgeon. I'm only 25, and other doctors my age are still in med school or are in residency, but I graduated high school really early and went straight to med school. I finished all my school and training last year and this year I am finally an attending at my own private practice in LA.
I'm not going to talk about how much money I have, or how much my family has. Nor am I going to keep talking about our successes. But I am going to briefly tell you how we are all so prosperous. It's because we were raised well and we were shown at an early age what living comfortable with good jobs looks like. Since we all like it, we all want it, and we work damn hard to earn it.
Of course, being part Chinese has something to do with it. Strict parents and all. You know.
