Time.
Energy.
Balance.
Everything in this world takes time. Relationships, kids, jobs, these take time away from your life. And whatever you put your time into, drains your energy. By balancing your time in every aspect of your life—significant partner, friends, kids, job, hobbies, your alone time—you build your ideal life. A life that’s joyous, rewarding, and meaningful.
Simple, right?
Yeah, na.
My observations
In my return to the social world since the new year—participating in 222 events, creating and responsibly scrolling through my personal social media profiles, reading fictional and non-fiction books, and paying attention to the people around me—I’ve come to a saddening conclusion: most adults (not all) are living an unfulfilling and restrictive life.
What do I mean by that?
I believe adults in their late 20s to early 30s are living in a dangerous time. Every year seems to get shorter, and responsibilities at work and home pile on and on, granting you less and less time to live your ideal life. And less time means we start to live on autopilot, limiting ourselves to the same beliefs, lifestyle, and thoughts year after year. And then, wham, bam, thank you, ma’am, we’re fifty years old. We haven’t grown. We haven’t tried something new. We aren’t interesting and original anymore. And we hate ourselves for it.
(Don’t believe me about this limited lifestyle and thinking? Well, just look at most boomers. Look at how judgmental they are. How restrictive. How convinced they are that there isn’t good music anymore. There is, Karen! There fucking is! Just keep an open mind and expand your dull fucking taste! Jesus!)
Anywho, I digress.
Think about it. How many hours does the average American work? (I’ll stick with America since this is where I live. I’m curious to expand my knowledge of the world and its many lifestyles and perspectives.) 35-50 hours a week. That’s how many hours the average American works. And it’s fucking ridiculous!
These hours wear on you. Exhaust you. Limit you week after week. 40 hours? 40 FUCKING hours? How can you possibly manage every other aspect of your life? Your friends? Your family? Your hobbies and interests? Your alone time? You can’t! You fucking can’t! Something’s—a lot of things, really—gotta give.
And it does.
Parents spend less time with their children and partners. And if they don’t, hey there, hi there, ho there, they lash out at them for the stupidest and simplest thing. Why? Because they’re exhausted. Depleted. Their energy and gas tank, empty, due to the time they’ve given to their work and the other parts of their life they’re barely fucking managing. And, what’dya know? The kids that have been lashed out at are now traumatized. Fucked. Suffering from immense insecurity and anxiety that follows them like a plague as they age.
Anywho, I’m rambling.
No. No. I’m getting way too heated so I’ll stop here and turn over a positive leaf.
Why do I bring this up?
Remember what I said in my last post? No? Well, fuck—Kidding! I’m kidding! That’s ok, here’s a refresher:
I bring it up because I’m an idealist. Because I care. Because I want people to be the best and happiest version of themselves possible. We can get there. We can all get there. YOU can get there. I know it.
To expand on my words, at the end of the day, I want people to live a meaningful and original life that’s unique to them. Your ideal life. I want adults from all over the world to confidently live an authentic life, damn what the world says. But, don’t worry about what the world says, because, in time, the majority of the world will accept you. Those that don’t, well, there’s a way to deal with them…
How to deal with them:
Your reaction:
My insistence:
Kidding! I’m kidding!
Maybe.
Maybe not.
I am an INFJ after all, just like one of the kindest human beings who’s ever walked this earth.
Me getting canceled in ten years, forced to apologize for my dark humor:
Back to our original program…
So, here’s the big question: how can we get there?
How can we live our ideal life? One that's joyous, rewarding, and meaningful?
Well, I’ll save my opinion for a future post, but, I’ll let my boy Sir Ken Robinson give you an idea in this video which I’ll also paste at the end of this post. (Note: My opinion is based on his thoughts on finding your element, which he delves deeper into in other videos and even in his book of the same title, The Element.)
I’ll tell you how we won’t get there, though: by giving up the majority of your precious time (up to 50 hours a week) into a job that strays and even blinds you from your ideal life full of joy and meaning.
And for all of ya’ll who feel content—satisfied with the safety and security your job provides—convinced that the life you’re living now is your ideal one, I challenge you to answer an even bigger question inspired and mended by Uncle Iroh’s words…
Is it your *own* ideal life? Or is it an ideal life someone *else* has tried to force (condition) on you?
If the answer is yes, you are living your ideal life, then I’ll step aside and, with a sincere heart, say that I’m happy for you. Truly.
But… if it’s not… then it’s time to ask yourself the motherload of all questions:
Who are you? And what do you want in life?