The fundamental, nagging, gnawing question that keeps me up late at night is this:
Why do we have so many “Defining Moments” / “Moments of Truth” in life?
“It ain’t fair!”
“Why ME?”
“I never saw it coming!”
“I never signed up for THIS!”
“There oughtta be a law!” [In fact, there IS!]
Why do we have so many unfortunate – but not completely unforeseeable – sobering “surprises”? Like …
· Finally finding it is impossible to raise a family on minimum wage income
· Being “passed over” for promotions
· Loss of jobs
· Divorce
· Abject Indebtedness/Insolvency/Bankruptcy
· Job dissatisfaction
· Dead-end jobs
· Haplessness
· Hopelessness
Maybe it’s because nobody ever told us these things could happen?
Maybe nobody ever clearly lined out the expectations?
Maybe it’s because we’re too comfortable in the NOW – or were YESTERDAY?
My cat wonders why I bust my butt,
trekking off in the world all day, every day,
coming home completely exhausted – and for what?
It’s all HERE!
Interestingly, some of the biggest “stars” in life come from some of the most desperate circumstances: They’ve already tasted hunger, poverty, destitution, isolation, oppression, and/or discrimination and they want to distance themselves from all of it as fast and as far as possible. Social, economic, mental and physical handicaps tend to make folks much more focused on becoming all that they can be. Such “obligatory life warriors” often emerge as “Unlikely Champions”, rising well above any comparable peer group, to achieve top honors in their respective fields of endeavor.
Maybe the problem for the rest of us is that being a “life warrior” is not obligatory?
Maybe it’s because we’re willing – or adamant – to risk doing as little as we can “get away with” – at least for as long as we can “get away with it”?
Maybe it’s because we’re convinced that we’re “Special” – somehow privileged and immune?
Maybe it’s because we don’t care – and/or don’t know enough to care?
Maybe it’s because credit is so easy and debt is so ethereal – merely a numbers game?
Maybe because it’s just too much effort to “make something of ourselves”?
(Who deigns to say we’re not “good enough” already?)
(And, BTW, our parents, neighbors and overachieving peers are working entirely too hard and not enjoying life to the fullest!)
Maybe being the “best” – or a “success” – is not really a legitimate goal?
Maybe we don’t want to mess with Destiny … i.e., it’s just a matter of time until “our time” comes … until we get “discovered” … until our “ship” comes in … until our “true destiny” arrives?
( … so we content ourselves in the interim – and keep the “monkey” of gross overachievement off our backs – by wallowing in social media and playing the lottery!)
Whatever the reason(s), a sobering Reality Check seems long overdue. Things that matter DO matter, and blatant underachievement, leading to unrecoverability of true potential and possibilities, is soul-darkening for far too many.
Yes, some of us may be working way too hard and giving up far too much. But who among true “life warriors” is willing to give Fate one iota of inroad toward compromising their true potential and/or reducing their possibilities or sustainability?
One of the hard truths is that accepting mere, sheer survival as the operational “norm” in the unperturbed moment won’t deliver anything close to a “deservable” allotment of personal satisfaction, fulfillment, peace-of-mind, success … or whatever else you want to call the ultimate goal or purpose of life.
Failure to “see the big picture” – worse, an unwillingness to acknowledge and/or act on what one DOES or CAN see – is a formula for failure overall.
“The time for taking all measures for a ship’s safety
[and for full-capacity armament]
is while still able to do so.”
Admiral Nimitz
That would be NOW! Quartermaster
