It was late Friday afternoon and I got pretty hungry. I decided to cook myself lunch. Oh yes, I’m learning how to cook healthy dishes. Anyway, I opened the fridge and it was almost completely empty. I was too hungry to go to the grocery store and then cook, so I decided to get lunch in a grill restaurant nearby.
Since I was alone, I observed people a little bit. It was very obvious that it was Friday afternoon. The restaurant/bar was full. I was sitting outside. More than half of the people were passionately smoking, cigarette after cigarette. Everybody was drinking, from beer to wine and liquor. The salty chips that people were snacking on made them even more alcohol thirsty.
Out of the three waitresses, only one was really working hard. The other two were sitting, smoking and looking at each other’s Facebook photos. You could see on people’s faces how relieved they were because it was Friday. You could see how a little bit of alcohol, gossiping and wasting their time brought a short-term escape from the painful reality of life.
They didn’t look happy; only glad that it’s Friday.
Life is a very precious thing
I felt like a complete outsider in that restaurant. Frankly, the environment made me a little bit nervous. I felt like I was among zombies. It’s not that I felt superior or more valuable compared to others, because I don’t. I respect every single person. Even more, I used to be a zombie myself, so it reminded me of that. But I was wondering: why, people, why don’t you wake up?
It’s so much better when you wake up and really start living life. It’s so good when you aren’t a zombie anymore. I don’t care if it’s Monday, Friday or Saturday. I always have something to look forward to. I love my work, so even if it’s Friday afternoon I have no problem sitting down and writing an article or two. I have so many different interests that I can’t imagine wasting a second of my life.
- I want to learn how to cook really good healthy dishes
- I have hundreds of books in a cue I want to read
- There are so many different countries to travel to
- I have so many online courses to watch
- So many ideas for articles to write
- All the mountains to climb
- Different people I want to have deep talks with and create projects
- Not to mention all the gadgets I want to try
- Oh, and someday I want to be an investor
These are only a few things from my vision list and they will take decades to complete. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not the happiest person alive. I have so much emotional baggage, many problems to deal with, my starting point was annihilating and I have an extremely complex personality that often makes me my own worst enemy.
But I find life to be a very precious thing. I appreciate every second given to me. I’m grateful for every talent I have and I for sure don’t want to waste them.
I see the world as a playground where I can learn, grow, connect, create and enjoy life. The world has so much to offer that I don’t imagine wasting it in a pub, smoking a cigarette, gossiping and being happy it’s Friday so I can watch TV for the weekend.
Just don’t be a zombie, wake up
You only have one life. You’re going to die. That should be the greatest motivation ever. One day, you are going to look back and get to the bottom line of what you’ve done with your life.
It will be either the final moment of internal regret or the moment of the deepest feelings of gratefulness that you ever experienced. In that moment, there will be no way of going back and changing things. Your decisions today and tomorrow are the only things that will lead to one of those two scenarios. Make sure it won’t be regret.
You only have one life. You’re going to die. That should be the greatest motivation ever.
Make sure you don’t turn into a zombie. Make sure you never stop fighting. Make sure you never settle. Make sure you always stay hungry and that you always stay foolish. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. It’s the one single thing where all-or-nothing thinking makes sense. Otherwise it’s one of the most frequent cognitive distortions that you have to avoid at all costs.
You don’t want to live a “meh, okay” life. You want to live an extraordinary life. To achieve that, you need an extraordinary approach to life and a superior life strategy. In the core of life, it comes down to three main things: how you earn money (wealth), who you spend time with (relationships) and what kind of a lifestyle you’re living, especially concerning your health. We can also add happiness to the list.
Don’t work at a job you hate, only because of the money
You were given a special combination of talents. Develop them and use them. In the beginning, it takes some effort, but when you become better and better at things, a passion develops and you get to enjoy what you do. Because you’re good at it you get promoted or you can start your own business, so consequently you don’t only enjoy it, but also make more money.
You spend more than 1/3 of your life working. It’s impossible to live a fulfilling and happy life if you are doing a job you hate. It’s impossible. And it’s not only about work, it’s also about the key business relationships. You want to work for a boss you respect, with a team of people that you fit in with, and you want to have a mentor who constantly pushes you.
You are the one choosing where you work. You are the one choosing your key business relationships. It’s your choice. You can always develop new competences, find a better job or change your behavior at the current job. If you are just a little bit creative, you can make any job the most interesting occupation in the world. If you are just a little bit creative, you can see how every job provides value and solves a problem for other people. And that must feel good.
Fly with eagles, don’t cluck with chickens
Not one good thing comes from spending time with people who make your life miserable – on purpose or because they’re emotionally hurting zombies. There is no good in gossiping. There is no point in drama. And it makes no sense to spend time with people who don’t encourage you to become your ideal self or with whom you don’t feel a deep connection that fulfills your life and makes it especially valuable.
People who create together develop deep bonds. People who do things together, from sports to art and traveling, stay together. People who have deep talks and explore life develop strong multidimensional relationships that can’t be broken easily. People can make your living on Earth heaven or hell. So chose the people you spend time with very carefully. Be picky about what kind of activities you do with others.
Every relationship has a certain level of drama. Every relationship is already a broken glass. There are no perfect relationships in life. But there are relationships that are worth the effort and trouble, and there are relationships that only help you justify wasting your life away.
Sitting in a bar, smoking a cigarette, bitching, whining and complaining, and gossiping about other people while checking social networks is a prime example of toxic relationships that are dragging a person down. They are a very exact example of clucking with chickens. Fly with eagles instead.
Your health is your greatest asset
I understand smoking in teenage years, when it’s a sign of rebellion or you want to try different things. I understand lighting a cigarette when something stressful happens and you need to somehow calm yourself down. But I don’t understand regularly smoking your years away and calling ugly diseases into your life.
It’s the same with drinking and eating chips or any other addictive habit. I know everybody needs to let off some steam from time to time. I need it too. Getting drunk from time to time is pretty normal. But seeing drinking and smoking in a bar while gossiping as the peak of your life makes zero sense. Oh, it’s Friday night, so I’m going to destroy myself a little bit.
You can enjoy healthy food as much as you can enjoy chips. You feel much better after a run than after smoking a cigarette. You can socialize when exercising, learning, creating or playing real games. You just have to put in a little bit more effort.
The moments when you should feel the best about your life are the moments when you’re taking good care of yourself and others. You should feel the best about yourself and life when you’re growing, really connecting with people, enjoying life in pure happiness or creating based on your talents. That’s definitely not sitting in a bar, smoking, gossiping, checking social networks and drinking excessively.
Every second counts
Every single second counts. Each of the 200 times you check your mobile phone counts. You could be rather brainstorming ideas. Every time you check social networks and stalk other people online instead of really living life, counts. You could be climbing a mountain or swimming in the sea. Every meeting you go to in order to kill some time, counts. You could be creating your next masterpiece.
Again, you are going to die. You have a limited number of seconds. Don’t cut off your seconds by completely forgetting about a healthy lifestyle. Don’t waste your seconds as a zombie waiting for life to just pass by. Explore, enjoy, connect, grow, learn, improve, love, travel, put a smile on your face, make the most out of it. There are so many things you can do.
Nobody on their deathbed has ever said “I wish I had pressed just one more like”.
I know it’s easy to preach. I’ve been there. I wasted around 20 % of my life. Years, completely wasted. Puff, gone. I was so pissed, so depressed and so angry. I was a fucking living zombie. My home environment turned me into a zombie. Even a single thought of what I could have done with all those years hurts so much.
But at one point, I realized that living a zombie life is shit. And I decided to do the first step into a more positive direction. I read the first book. I went to the gym for the first time. I joined different business associations. Slowly, I changed my environment and myself. It took a few years to see the first results. Nevertheless, all the effort paid off. Now I’m not wasting even a second of my life anymore.
| Wasting seconds | Appreciating seconds |
|---|---|
| Sitting in a bar | Climbing a mountain |
| Gossiping | Having a deep talk |
| Eating chips | Snacking on something healthy |
| Smoking | Belly breathing |
| Bitching about life | Fighting |
| Being happy it’s Friday | Brainstorming what you will create |
| Checking social networks | Reading a book |
Immediately stop wasting your life
I needed to rant a little bit. The scene in the restaurant reminded me of how I used to waste my life and how tough it was. It reminded me of how it feels like and looks like to be a zombie. I saw all the seconds being wasted and potential being thrown away.
For me, that’s not easy, not only because of the wasted seconds, but also because I already met so many talented people who decided not to wake up from the zombie life. They decided not to take the red pill.
Don’t be one of them. No matter how tough your past was, no matter how difficult your life situation is, keep going. Never start wasting your life, never stop fighting. Never settle and never give up. Every second of your life given to you is a precious second and you have to make something good out of it. Don’t make stupid decisions, develop good positive habits, appreciate life, and all that will sooner or later lead you to a good positive life. If you are doing it anyhow, just stop wasting your life.
Vsebina
