Now, I don’t want to tell you how
to live your life here, but that’s exactly what I'm going to do. I’m not going
to give you any BS cliché phrases, any YOLO statements (none this time, I
swear), or any man’s dying words. I’m hopefully far from dying, but this is for
those who are barely existing. I don’t mean to injure anyone’s ego here; I’m
just telling it like it is as I opine. Let’s start by going over what “having
a life” entails. I’ll tell you where you can send hate mail later.
People often connect having a job
with having a life. This is wrong in so many ways that I’m (insert metaphor
here). We’ve been raised from birth to believe that trading your time for money
is a smart investment, but considering how limited your time on Earth is, it
could be the worst financial decision you make. As with anything there are
notable exceptions, but you will sacrifice so much by spending 40
hours a week for 40 years pushing pencils. Money makes your time more enjoyable, but this is of no use if it consumes all of your time! This is the 21st century,
and there are plenty of other ways to generate income. Granted, it takes determination, but that’s 83,200 hours that can be put into something better
in the long run. 83,200 hours that can turn you into a golf champ, card shark, or top notch chef. Check out this blogger for some advice on how to get started.
You were most definitely also told that being
married equaled having a successful life. But 3 in 5 marriages collapse, which
is more than it has ever been before. Many more people simply stay together for
the kids. What happened? Are people marrying for the wrong reasons? Are people
more fighty than they were before? Marriage is an institution, both a religious
and a legal one, and never before in history has it been the social norm to
marry solely based on feelings. Kings and queens married for power and military
alliances, after all. People are extremely demanding on their romantic
fantasies, and hold their partners up to such high expectations without ever
putting in the effort themselves. Romance revolves around the concept of being
able to lose just as fast as (or faster than) one can gain. Partners can grow
complacent, and what happens then? Relationships
grow boring, abusive, or superficial. I’m not saying marriages or long-term
relationships are a bad idea, or superfluous, but your personal relationships themselves should not consume your entire life.
Many take pride on the things they
do, the places they’ve been, the people they know, etc. That's a step closer to success, but it's still idiotic. Don’t
be an idiot. Travel
locations can be great to brag about, but they’re just places after all, and
the best we can do is save them as memories. People often are stuck on the idea that the past defines what we are, but they tend to forget to accept the fact that life constantly changes and molds us.
I could list a million other things
that don’t contribute to the meaning of living, and I will. But I’ve
rambled on enough, I'm sorry, and I am ready as well for the positive outlook
I promised earlier.
So who lives their life the best,
then? The President, the ground-breaking inventor, the full-time traveler? Ask
a four-year-old, and they might just refer you to one of their favorite cartoon heroes. And it’d be best not to dismiss little Sally’s opinion here.
But what do you have to gain from Clifford the Big Red Dog?
 |
| Spends 90% of his life working. Likes it. |
It’s easy to forget that we’re
finite beings. The Internet and other modern innovations make instant
gratification too readily obtainable. It’s become more of a mainstream belief
that we should live each day as our last, but how about taking that one step
further and living it like our first, as well? Fresh eyes open up more easily. Cartoon protagonists never
remember their last adventure, and though their travels may not always be the
grandest, they grow a little bit each episode. They remind us that it’s not
what we have, or what we do, but our internal perspective on the world. Live your life like
the childhood hero who only lives and exists in 30 minute intervals, who doesn’t
regret the past episode, and who doesn’t fear the next one.
How do you feel life should be lived? Let me know at
Chinesefriday@gmail.com.
