Saturday 2 June 2007

Finding A Way Forward

This life is not a dress rehearsal.
It's the only shot we've got.

I don't know what other people want out of their lives, I'm not even sure what I want out of mine, but I suppose the following three objectives are a start;

1. Gain as much enjoyment as possible.
2. Cause minimum pain to others.
3. Leave the world in some way, a better place for your having been here.

How far I have gone to acheiving these objectives is open to debate. Not very far, I suspect.
I haven't really got much to show for my time on this planet.

What I do know, is that life is too important to waste. It's too short to keep drifting aimlessly, to avoid making decisions, to miss opportunities, to be dishonest with people, to let things pass you by.

All faults I am guilty of.

Quite why so many of us end up as spectators in our own lives, I don't know. Maybe it is the shallowness of our society. Sometimes I do feel completely alienated from the culture we live in.

I think everybody needs purpose in their life, and this is something modern life fails to give.

I know I want to acheive SOMETHING.

But if you asked me what that was, I'd have to admit, I have no idea.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

You have probably achieved much but don't realise. Have you seen It's a Wonderful Life?

My favourite film of all time.

Anonymous said...

Do you believe in destiny or fate?

Anonymous said...

we all have a purpose, it's just up to each of us to figure it out. i think you're on the right track. and, if i do remember correctly, you're just hitting your 30s. time is on your side, ingsoc.

Anonymous said...

Ahhh -- very true. I have just recently gone through those questions myself. And just like you, I've arrived at the same conclusion. I still have no idea!

Anonymous said...

Crushed - like your last sentences.

Anonymous said...

An astrologer would say that you are going through "Saturn's return", which is when Saturn is in roughly the same place as it was when you were born, and it happens every 28-30 years. It is a time of consolidation or change. It is a natural time to look at what you are doing and decide if it is really "you".

I am not an astrologer but I do recognise that 28-30 is an important time for values. It was when I started training in something I believed in, that would give me an income and make a difference for people.

Our society lacks spirituality, which has got so muddled with religion and hence people are repelled by it. I cant stand organised religion but I think that "love thy neighbour,as thyself is really good advice. People are cunts to themselves, as well as to other people and this is a big part of the problem.

Working out what your highest values are and generally persuing them is a very worthwhile endeavour. Will save you and others heartache.

Anonymous said...

Snufflepagus- Were it to be so.

David- Not in quite such a clear cut sense. As a Catholic, I believe in free will, yet I hold to a loose determinism, simply because a knowledge of the universe makes a certain concept of destiny inevitable.

Raffi- I think I see the goals, I just can't see the route.

Princess- I think, like me, you have SOME idea. You know what life you DON'T want, and what things are a waste of a life.

Miss S- Making someone fall in love with you conflicts with the objective of not causing pain to people.
Acheiving something positive means actually using the gifts you have to their greatest possible positive use.

James- Yes, that's the conundrum. I have no answers yet, but I think I'm near to the right questions.

Lilith- I agree broadly with your points, I think most of my principles are clear to me now, and the things I think worth living for. It's how to do it that is the issue.
Oddly enough, organised religion plays a small but important role in my life. I think it's true to say that had I lived in different times, I would have ended up in the Jesuits.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. It's not something I have really thought about. Certainly for the first few decades i was just interested in enjoying myself and getting on in life now I tend to make each choice based on what will be best as a whole for me.

I don't have any long term objectives because I know I can't make that much difference. perhaps if I win the lottery or discover something (unlikely)I would do something different.

Anonymous said...

-->Speaking of computers freezing... why does your blog cause my window to freeze evry time i come here ... really annoying!

Am I the only one?

Anonymous said...

You've got plenty of time to achieve, Crushed and you are achieving already by writing this nice blog and making us think. The 3 things you want out of life are good ones and are what most people want, I should think. One thing I have learned is that you may not get some of the things you want in the way that you wanted them - for example love, for me, has turned out to be for a dog and a place. Causing as little hurt as possible is so important.

Anonymous said...

Some people don't achieve until after the age of 60

Anonymous said...

Bag- We all make a difference. For most of us, it is the negative effect of being another sheep in the flock.

David- I'm a technological idiot, can't help you there.

Welshcakes- Thanks, I do try to put my thoughts across and hope that in some way they add to the debates going on round here.

Jeremy- Palmerston would be a case in point.
But why put off for tomorrow what you can do today?

Anonymous said...

Don't be crushed by the weight of all the good you should be doing. It's too exhausting. I suspect good or worthwhile things just arise during the course of your life. You sound a bit worried, though, as if there's something specific on your mind. If so, I'd get started with that one. Forgive me if a) wrong and b) unwanted advice.

Anonymous said...

The important things in life-
1 a Nardo
2 2 Nardos( so I don't have to share)
3 good sex ( willing to share)
4 Anything Dolce and Gabanna
5 Becoming very good at KRav Maga so I can kick the shit out of anyone who hurts me or does not fulfill the above.
Yeah, I am covered.
* well, I never said I was Mother Teresa

Anonymous said...

This afternoon I baked a cake -and my daughter came round to tea because of it!! I was made up! ( Oh I also discovered a cure for cancer and brought peace to central Africa )

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