My New Indian Acquaintance
Well, the Indian guy whose blog I mentioned a couple of days ago brought up a very interesting subject and I started responding on his site but realized that the response was going to be quite long. Also, it is a subject that I think my readers would enjoy as well, so I want you all to go read his post (dated October 10, 2005) and then come back to read mine and then respond as you see fit.
My response:
I live my life like number two but occasionally wish I were a number 1 person. Let me explain. I don't have any real role models and when I feel like I should be doing more with my life to get myself ahead it's usually the desire for more stuff that makes me think that. It's got nothing to do with the quality of my life or my fear that I will be forgotten as soon as I die. I may be a typical American in this regard, but I don't know the other 297,834,130 of us, so that's merely a guess. But life to me is far too short to waste the good years trying to be something when I'm old. I get my main pleasure from my family. My wife and kids are just about everything to me. I'm in school to learn biology right now and that's because that's what interests me. I'll never be rich from it. It'll probably not make me famous or the subject of great envy. I may achieve a certain amount of admiration for my work in the future, but that's not what drives me. I figure that we spend the vast majority of our waking moments working and the job we do should be enjoyable and make us happy. It should also allow us to do the other things that we feel are important.
That said, I don't want to give the impression that I look down on those who work hard at achieving a certain goal at some point in the future. I don't really understand that sort of thinking, but that does not mean that it is not an admirable method of living. I feel happiness everyday. I assume that many people who do not live the way I do (by the day, that is) feel happy everyday as well. We as a race need to have people who are willing to devote their lives to build something huge or make changes or whatever it is that drives these goal-orientated people. Change is a good thing, most of the time. At the very least, it gets people to think about why they live the way they do and whether that is the right way to be. It keeps one from stagnating in a pool of content or apathy.
So, I say to those who are building the icons of tomorrow, "Good luck and thank you". And I ask you, the reader, what do you think?
My response:
I live my life like number two but occasionally wish I were a number 1 person. Let me explain. I don't have any real role models and when I feel like I should be doing more with my life to get myself ahead it's usually the desire for more stuff that makes me think that. It's got nothing to do with the quality of my life or my fear that I will be forgotten as soon as I die. I may be a typical American in this regard, but I don't know the other 297,834,130 of us, so that's merely a guess. But life to me is far too short to waste the good years trying to be something when I'm old. I get my main pleasure from my family. My wife and kids are just about everything to me. I'm in school to learn biology right now and that's because that's what interests me. I'll never be rich from it. It'll probably not make me famous or the subject of great envy. I may achieve a certain amount of admiration for my work in the future, but that's not what drives me. I figure that we spend the vast majority of our waking moments working and the job we do should be enjoyable and make us happy. It should also allow us to do the other things that we feel are important.
That said, I don't want to give the impression that I look down on those who work hard at achieving a certain goal at some point in the future. I don't really understand that sort of thinking, but that does not mean that it is not an admirable method of living. I feel happiness everyday. I assume that many people who do not live the way I do (by the day, that is) feel happy everyday as well. We as a race need to have people who are willing to devote their lives to build something huge or make changes or whatever it is that drives these goal-orientated people. Change is a good thing, most of the time. At the very least, it gets people to think about why they live the way they do and whether that is the right way to be. It keeps one from stagnating in a pool of content or apathy.
So, I say to those who are building the icons of tomorrow, "Good luck and thank you". And I ask you, the reader, what do you think?
posted by Our Hero, at 8:54 AM
2 Comments:
Interesting. I think it's more about what suits you. There are some who love the pressure and excitement associated with achieving ambitious goals. Others hate it for exactly the same reason.
Yeah, I guess the pressure is too much for me to think about, but the excitement is okay.
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