Life Is Short
A lot more short, as everyone knows. When {We were|I actually was|My spouse and i was} obviously {a child|a youngster} I used to {question|ponder|speculate} about this. Is life actually short, or are we really complaining about its finiteness? Would we be just as likely to feel life was short if we {resided|existed|were living} 10 times as long?
Since there didn't {seem to be} any way {to reply to|to resolve} this question, I stopped {thinking|questioning|wanting to know} about it. Then {We|I actually|My spouse and i} had kids. That {offered|provided} me {a method to|ways to} answer the question, and {the answer then is|the solution is} that life actually is brief.
Having kids showed {me personally|myself} how to convert a consistent quantity, time, into discrete quantities. You only get 52 weekends with your 2 year old. If Christmas-as-magic lasts from say ages 3 to 10, you only {reach|be able to|arrive at} watch your child experience it 8 times. And while you will never say what is a lot or a little of a continuous {amount|volume|variety} like time, 8 is {very little|a small percentage} something. If you had {a number of|a couple of|a several} 8 nuts, or shelves of {eight|almost eight|almost 8} books to choose from, the quantity {would certainly|would} {seem to be} limited, {whatever} your {life-span was|life expectancy was|lifetime was}.
Ok, so life actually is short. {Will it|Can it|Would it} make any difference to know that?
{They have|It includes} for me. It means {quarrels|fights|disputes} of the form "Life is too short for x" have great {pressure|push|power}. It's not {simply a physique|simply a number|simply a shape} of speech {to express|to state|to talk about} that life is too brief for something. It's not {simply a} synonym for {irritating|frustrating|infuriating}. {When you are|If you are} thinking that life is too short for something, you should try to eliminate it if you can.
When {We|I actually|My spouse and i} ask myself what {I have|We have|We've} found life is {way too short|quite short} for, the word that pops into my {mind is|brain is} "bullshit. " {We|I actually|My spouse and i} realize that answer is somewhat tautological. It's almost the definition of hokum that it's the products that a lot more too short for. And yet bullshit does have a distinctive character. {There is|Will be certainly|Discover} something fake about it. It is the {rubbish|trash|gunk} food of experience. [1]
If you ask yourself what you spend your time on {which|that is|gowns} bullshit, you probably already know the response. {Unneeded|Needless|Pointless} meetings, pointless disputes, paperwork, posturing, dealing to {householder's|someones|peoples'} mistakes, traffic jams, {addicting|habit forming|hard to kick} but unrewarding pastimes.
{Presently there are|Right now there are|Generally there are} two ways this kind of thing gets into your life: {it can|is actually|really} either forced on you or it tricks you. {To some degree|At some level} you have to put {plan|program} the hokum forced {upon you|you|for you} by circumstances. You need to {generate income|generate profits|earn a living}, and making money {is made up|is composed|comprises} mostly of errands. {Certainly|Without a doubt}, {legislation|what the law states} of supply and demand insures that: the more rewarding some kind of work is, the cheaper people will do it. It may be that less bullshit is forced on you think, though. There has recently been a stream {of men and women|of folks} who opt out of the default grind and go live somewhere where opportunities are fewer in the conventional sense, but life feels more authentic. {This may|This might|This can} become more common.
You can do it on a smaller scale without moving. The amount of time you have to spend on bullshit {differs|may differ} between employers. Most large organizations (and many small ones) are steeped in it. But if you consciously prioritize bullshit {prevention|elimination} over other factors like money and prestige, you often will find {companies|business employers|organisations} that will waste less of your time.
{If you are|Should you be|For anyone who is} a freelancer or {a tiny} company, you can do this at {the amount of|the degree of} specific customers. If you {open fire|flames|flame} or avoid toxic customers, you can decrease the amount of bullshit in your daily life by more than you {lower your|reduce your} income.
But while some amount of bullshit is inevitably forced on you, the bullshit that sneaks into your life by tricking you is no one's fault but your own. And yet the bullshit you choose may be harder to eliminate than the bullshit {which|that is|gowns} forced {upon you|you|for you}. Things that lure you into {losing|throwing away|spending} your time on them {need to be|must be} really good at tricking you. An example that will be familiar to a lot {of men and women is|of folks is} arguing online. When someone contradicts you, they're in a sense attacking you. Sometimes pretty overtly. The instinct when attacked is to defend yourself. {Yet|Nevertheless|Although} like a lot of instincts, this one {was not|had not been|has not been} {made for|suitable for} the earth we now live in. {Unproductive|Odd} as it feels, {it can|is actually|really} better {almost all of} the time not to defend yourself. Otherwise these people are literally taking your life. [2]
Arguing online {is merely} incidentally addictive. {Presently there are|Right now there are|Generally there are} more dangerous things than that. As {I have|We have|We've} written before, one {side product|by-product} of technical progress is that things we like tend to become more addictive. {Meaning|This means} we will increasingly have to make a conscious effort to avoid addictions--to stand {outdoors|exterior|outside the house} ourselves and ask "is this how I want to be spending my time? "
As well as avoiding bullshit one should actively {look for|search for|find} things that matter. But different things matter to different people, and most have to learn what {issues|concerns|things} to them. {A couple of are|Some are|A number of are} blessed and realize early on that they love mathematics or taking care of animals or writing, and then figure out a way to spend a lot of time {performing it|carrying it out|executing it}. But most people {begin|start off|start} with a life {this is a|what a} mix of things that matter and things that don't, and only {little by little|slowly but surely} learn to separate them.
For the young especially, much of this {misunderstandings is|dilemma is|distress is} induced by the artificial situations they {effect|end result|direct result} in. In middle {college|institution|university} and high school, what the other kids think of you seems {the main} thing in the world. But when you ask adults what they {received|acquired} wrong at that {age group|era|time}, {practically} all say they cared too much what other kids considered them.
