The Importance of What is Important

Alright so yesterday I didn't post anything, Why? For a few reasons: 1. I've had a whole ton of homework that just never seems to let up. 2. Because I have so much homework and at the same time am trying to get my hours in for the PE class I signed up for, I haven't gotten much sleep in the past couple of weeks. And finally but most importantly 3. I've been procrastinating. Yeah I know, lame. I'm workin on it but I find it hard to to care about things that I just don't care about. This in reference to the homework that I'm obligated to finish at the last minute. But I'm posting now. And you owe all your thanks to the lovely Aurielle Coyle who pushed me to stop procrastinating and start writing already.

Anyway, something occurred to me this last week while my dad was scaring the crap out of me with his driving. I was thinking: To be a good driver all it takes is making the right decisions. Of course the fact that my dad seems to be getting more senile as the days go on says a lot about the kinds of decisions he makes on the road.

Last week I talked about focus, and I hope all of you have been more focused than I have in the past week. In my social psychology class we were talking about taking surveys and to illustrate this my teacher, of all questions that she could of asked, she asked, "What is the purpose of life?" I was like, kind of a deep question for a bunch of college students. Unsurprisingly most of the answers dealt with personal gratification. Which in my opinion is a very selfish way to live. But it did make me think, although I already knew the ultimate answer to the question. I took a retrospective look at the question. In regards to what I had been thinking about earlier this week, driving is all about making the right decisions. And I took it a step further, that's what life is about. Cuz what is your own life other than a series of calculated or uncalculated decisions? So to succeed in what you're doing, in life all you have to do is make the right decisions. Easier said than done. But all the same, when you think about it in depth, how hard is it really? And you really have to think about, what is the right decision? There is always a kind of general answer to the question that would take care of all decisions in your life thus avoiding thinking about your decisions on a case by case basis. But how do you do that? How can you stop at each small decision you make and evaluate the long term effect of that decision? You can't do it without looking like a paranoid. And if you spend all your time evaluating your decisions then you'll never take any actions. That's no way to live. It seems we are in a bit of a sticky situation.

Last week I was talking about focus changing on a constant basis. And I want to now separate and define that there are two types of focus, if you haven't already figured this out. There is the specific type of focus that we've already touched on. And then there is the more general focus. This is the over all objective of the mission, this is the ultimate goal and guiding concept of your life. If you think that you don't have one then you are a fool. Because everyone has one, without thinking about it you have chosen what is most important to you, whether it be aspiring to an ideal or like the college student in my class, gaining some material for yourself so you can feel good, everyone has consciously or subconsciously determined the purpose of their own life. Most of us have dangerously opted for the subconscious determination. Why? Because a lot of us just don't care or we just can't find time to care. Because to care about something so big would require us to take so much of our brain power and also require us to think objectively about ourselves. And no one wants to do that. One of the scariest but most rewarding ventures that anyone could ever take up is to be completely truthful with yourself about yourself. If everyone took a very truthful look at themselves and the ugly, illogical, unreasonable, selfish, self-serving, and ultimately stupid decisions we make and then get past them to become better, then I truly believe that everyone would find their real purpose and ultimate goal much faster.

I can not assume to tell you how to live your life and what the right decision to make is, mostly because I do not represent the kind of person who has made any of the right decisions in his own life. But I can tell you how to find the right purpose for your life. Questions. It's as simple as that, keep questioning things. I said it before the greatest question anyone can ask is "Why?" To take a more common ill-conceived purpose, to be successful. What is success? Most people here in America will tell you something resembling the American Dream. Get married, have kids, own your own house, have a good job, raise good children, and retire well. None of that is wrong. But is that a good purpose to have? Because as good as all of that stuff is, things can go horribly wrong in all of those situations and then when they do the person who makes all this important falls apart. If you focus on just getting married and you think, if you just get married then you'll be happy, then your not really focusing so much on the person that you're marrying your focusing on the fact that you are a happy because you are in a relationship. What happens when that person no longer makes you happy? What happens when that person starts treating you wrong? You've made marriage and relationships in general more important than they were ever meant to be. Maybe a better example is your house. It costs a lot more money than anyone has right now. And throughout your ownership of it you'll do what you can to improve how it looks and how you live in it. And that costs money as well. And depending on where you live there may be weather conditions that cause damage, so you have to repair it. depending on how long you live in the same place you'll have to constantly replace parts and maybe even rebuild walls and such. All of this costing money, and time, of which you have little. So by the end of your life you will have lived in your dream house. Long after you are gone, someone or something will have undone all of the hard work you put into it. Ultimately if living in a good house is most important to you, then there will be no evidence that you ever existed when you die.

What is most important? Because all material is subject to decay. Nothing in the world, and I mean literally nothing, lasts forever. Not even love, as depressing as that is. Do not think that forever ends when you die. Friends and family, as valuable as their lives are, they will not last forever, friends leave and family members die, sometimes sooner than you think. What is important? Test it, if you think you have it figured out already, chances are that you don't. Test everything that you think holds eternal importance. And when you figure it out, when you finally come to the realization, test it again, and then live every waking moment of your life striving to make decisions and short term goals that get you closer to that which is of ultimate importance. Never stop asking questions.