Asklemmy

I notice a lot of comments here saying "Hey go live your life now! Pick up that guitar or paintbrush or dancing shoes or whatever! Live for you!" And I agree. I often struggle with these existential thoughts.

But something they might leave out is that it's HARD.

Following your own path can be unpredictable, and meandering, and you need to know who to trust and lean on them, and let them lean on you.

It can be a one-move-to-the-next kind of existing without that facade of "predictability" a society-prescribed life will get you. The good news is that stability is a myth anyway, so why not see it for what it really is?

I was treading water in a soul-destroying job for almost a decade when I finally saw the opportunity to strike out for myself, and I ran for it. My wife was promoted to a position that paid more and she didn't hate it, so we discussed it and I quit, and took on more household duties and put my efforts towards finally becoming a 3D artist.

It's been like a year+ and I still haven't "made it" yet! It's scary! But I've gotten some gigs! I'm still slow, and not as wildly creative as I'd like to be, but I do random labor on the side and try to keep my costs as low as possible. But she's happier with how not-depressed I am, and I've made so much progress more than I ever would have otherwise.

Are we even able to start saving for retirement? Not even close! But I'm betting on myself and in the process I get a lot more time well-spent with the person I love.

No, not everyone is gonna have these opportunities or privileges, I know. But keep looking, talk to people, DO THE WORK instead of just talking about it. Help people! Let people help you! There will be some foothold for you somewhere.

And if you gotta pull some shifts at a coffee shop to keep the lights on there's no shame in that! And you're gonna have people who think you're crazy and try to pull you back into the pot with the other cranky crabs because you're there reminding them that they could've done something with their lives too.

My point is, taking charge of your life instead of asking permission from various gatekeepers is HARD. You might follow your dreams and find out you suck at it. The dream might even change at some point.

But it's worth doing. Because what's the alternative?

Lord knows if the worst were to happen, your boss will be filling your job before your body is cold. So where is your effort, energy, discipline, talents, love, best spent?

As Bruce Lee once said: "Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one."

I'd add, "one worth living."

Capitalism is the hidden antagonist here.

bro i hate this type of shit, when you are a kid you are not doing school work all of the time, and when you are an adult you are not working all of the time - yes you will always have responsibilities but that is a part of your life

I like watching the changes. The world and everything in it, including me, isn't in stasis. People get old, I'm getting old, wild to look back at 'young me' or think of a close friend at a time when they were totally unfamiliar. My hometown is 10x larger and looks wildly different but I can still point out some unchanged spots when I go to visit.

I wish I could stop time and do whatever but I acknowledge that I was thrust into this with no say in any of it, so I just strive to be at peace with it I suppose

Where do I get a career I can retire from to complain about?

Many people saying 'live for the now', which is totally valid, but there's an alternative as well, which is the path I followed - devise a concrete economic plan for your life (5 year plan, 3 year plan, etc), and track ALL your spending until you have a strong grasp on how you like to spend your cash.

It's hard to make more money, so do everything you can to reduce spending in your life. No only will you increase how much can put away, but you'll need less to sustain yourself when you reduce how much you earn, due to the cultivation of a spendthrift life.

This shit really gets to me but not in a way you might expect.

I'm extremely content in life. It amazes me there are so many of you that just aren't happy existing. Every day is what you make of it and if you live life as glass half full no amount of milestones is going to fill it.

There is something to be said about simplicity. It can be as little as appreciating the sun on your face but you need to be open to appreciate it.

Life only has meaning when you give it meaning and the longer you hold off doing that then empty you shall remain.

Stop existing to work. Instead create the memories now. Go have fun now. In the US the retirement age is going up to 70. One of the reasons is specifically because people are getting more good years, so of course the bar had to be moved. Enjoying retirement is a con.

I had workaholic parents who expected "retirement" to finally be the time to enjoy life. So they grinded, 60 hour work weeks for decades. They made a ton of money but by the time they made it to retirement they destroyed their bodies.

My mom has extremely severe chronic hip pain and cannot sit down. Due to constantly working in an office her muscles were severely atrophied and she cannot find the motivation to get back in shape. She spends the vast majority of her time in bed, completely exhausted.

My father suffered chronic stress and once passed out at work. He struggles with high blood pressure and went partially blind. He is still working due to decisions I can't share here.

When you die, they will put two dates on your tombstone. The day you were born and the day you died. And, in between will be a little dash. That dash represents everything that mattered about your life. All your achievements and failures, all your joy and all your pain. All roll up in just a little dash. Make the most of it before that second date is written.

Accept the fact that nothing matters, obviously.

And this feeling is why I started picking up music again after I stopped playing/recording for nearly 12 years. I've worked too hard and focused so much on being successful when I've forgotten what makes me truly happy.

Everyone wants to be happy. Be the least asshole possible.

This is why hedonism is a good thing.

You just can't be so hedonistic that you can't keep being one next year, and the year after. Or in a way that screws someone over.

That's a pretty big question, with a couple of different interpretations. If you are asking how I handle thinking about the passage of time, the easiest answer is to make it tomorrow's problem. This is probably not the healthiest answer; but it doesn't pay to stress over inevitabilities, so I just do my best to put them out of my mind.

If you are asking the best way to utilize your time, my recommendation is to start focusing on yourself immediately. It's very easy to prioritize work by staying late or overworking yourself to make your bosses happy, but no amount of overwork will ever satiate your company; it will only serve to drain the life from your body. It's very important to set firm boundaries with your job. I, personally, will not even look at my work phone or computer the minute I leave the office (on Mon-WFH days) and have a hard stop every day at 5PM unless agreed upon well in advance. You lose so much time and energy to your job that just standing firm on your boundaries can be a huge QoL boost.

Please also do your best to cultivate a creative outlet as a hobby. A lot of people don't think they are/can be creative, but anyone can be creative if they find the right outlet. It could be art, sewing, crochet, music, writing, or even creative programming. The important thing is to find a way to explore your feelings and do something productive with them. In my experience, I am often the most vivacious are when I am making art in one form or another; I highly recommend it.

Let go and let life slip through your hand like sand

Accept that good actions will not give an immediate or always measurable result for you to observe.

You are a social being. What matters most is often not what increases you in status, but what increases others in wellbeing or allows you to appreciate the beauty in lifem

On your death bed you will not wish to have worked more, but probably to have spent more time with people dear to you or that you had spent more time for actions that nudge society a tiny bit more towards your values.

Capitalism especially todays consumerism is built around manipulating you to identify yourself with superficial status. Breaking free of that will open yourself to value your time and actions as meaningful as they become meaningful, even if there is no number or title attachable to it.

There are no destinations, only journeys. If you don't find meaning in the path you're walking you have three choices:

1. Change the path
2. Change yourself
3. Live a life you feel is meaningless

There is no right or wrong answer, only choices and your experience of making them.

https://i.imgur.com/LMlTKLM.jpeg

Kaiji expressed the sentiment as well though imo a smidge better

For work-life balance on the basis of the comic, by refusing to do any kind of overtime on a regular basis, and making sure any time it happens I'm compensated for it. I'm also fortunate enough to earn enough that I was able to reduce my working hours to have Fridays free. Having half of the year free gives me the opportunity to actually do some living.

Now for the more general question, I mostly try to not think about it, because it tends to throw me into a FOMO driven frenzy where I do things to cross them from a checklist and end up not really enjoying anything. For the most part, I found I'm much happier trying to live in the moment even if I'm not very good at it.

Been meaning to contact my teachers. Telling myself after I finish community college, after I get into the uni I want, and after I get my internship. I have now done those things and have not contacted my teachers out of fear of disappointment.

Make your life as close to what you want it to be in the present as you can personally achieve, and make plans. Focus on what you want to accomplish this day, week, month, year, 5 years, decade, and by the time you retire. Adjust as necessary if you go off track, whether faster or slower.

Time will pass. Harness it.

I honestly stopped caring about time as we use it (I'd need to think for a minute if someone asked me what day it is) since the Pandemic. Never had much use for time other than scheduling, but the Pandemic seems to have completely cut me off from it.

Now, I just exist. Que sera, sera.

"My kids will live the life I wish I had"

I did this with having no kids.
"Ohh I'm not in a position to create a good life for an offspring."
"Ohh now I'm over 40 no kids for me, I guess it's better anyway. The climate catastrophe is real the World is on fire."

"Only in death does duty end."

The truth here that many people won't get is that you can start your life anytime you want. Waiting for a good menu option to click on doesn't work. In my early 20s I was an introverted, anxiety-ridden computer geek. Then I took a community college acting class and discovered my passion for theatre - did acting, stage design, lighting, directing... it created almost an instant social life, tons of friends and looking forward to every day. My job became just a necessary detail, my real life was after work.

Anyway I encourage everyone to figure out how to get their life started. Doesn't matter what the economy is like or your personal history or circumstances - it's not you - nobody's life has ever cared if they lived it or not.