Take the Rest of Your Life if You Like

The unfortunate teaching in many schools is the requirement that one must come up with the "right" answer immediately and quickly -- rather than taking as much time as necessary, to arrive at the ultimate (best) answer.  The whole point is to get there at some point in ones life -- and that is particularly important, the later on in life that is -- when one most needs it, and it is vitally important -- to get it right.

That is the failing of much contemporary instruction -- that the fastest way is to already have it in memory, rather than searching it out beyond one's existing knowledge -- as one has the urgency and motivation to find out.  The truth of the past, may not be the truth of the present situation.  Often the answer lies in simply asking the right questions -- and not having all the answers to the wrong questions.

So to say that one finally arrived at the right answer too late -- is to miss the point.  The whole point is to find out the truth of any matter -- as long as one lives.  That is necessary to living effectively -- at any time in one's life, and no time more vitally, than all one's life.  That more than anything, redefines and revitalizes the human life.  The question then is, can one really live that way -- in the present moment, and not just in one's thoughts and memories?

This manner of living, is knowing what one needs to know in this moment -- and not merely storing as much information as humanly possible -- in the event that one should really need it.  At times like those, one is likely to be so overwhelmed by information and irrelevancies that the simplicity of clarity and a free mind, is not likely to be possible.  One is simply too busy doing all those things that do not matter, to have the time, energy and clarity to do the things that absolutely must be done -- as all that matters, and needs doing.  They're just "too busy" doing all the wrong things.

So more important than just voting once every four years, one should be exercising intelligence and awareness every day of one's life, in everything one does --as the best strategy for obtaining favorable outcomes in their lives.  If one only exercises that faculty once every four years, the chances of getting everything wrong, is highly likely -- wishing one could do it all over again, rather than moving on -- with the other choices one is now faced with -- each and every day.

Those are equally life-changing and life-altering decisions, choices and actions -- rather than the endless political debates by those who do nothing else -- and certainly, nothing consequential in their lives -- but to tell everybody else what to do, and what to think.  Hopefully by now, with the Internet and all, they have realized what a difference they can make in their own lives -- and not just for those somewhere far away through self-designated intermediaries of good works and political correctness.

For surely, that is the world we now live in -- with each as principals in their own lives, rather than as pawns to the powers that want to be.  That is the question at the heart of every choice one makes -- whether they are more empowered because of it, or more dependent on others to tell them what to do, and what to think -- as though one is not capable and qualified to do that for themselves.  That is the crux of the lifestyle one creates for oneself.  It has very little to do with the masses -- but is the heart of what it means to be an individual, and uniquely so -- because of all the choices one has made over a lifetime.

None are more important than the one makes now -- in spite of it all.  One can turn one's life around at any moment -- no matter how bad, nor good, it has been up to now.  That is life.  It's not a remembered thing -- or a hope and a prayer.  It is how one actually plays the present hand of circumstances.  And if that was not so good before, it can be better this time -- not by accident or randomness, but by intention and deliberate action.

One doesn't get there by a leap of faith -- or winning the lottery (randomness), but in getting it right eventually.  It doesn't have to be immediately, or even the first time -- as long as one eventually gets there -- sometime in one's life, and the later the better.  Because then, one will have made all the mistakes, and come to appreciate it better -- as long as one has not given up, and fail to notice any difference anymore.  That is the point of no return and hopelessness.

One hopes never to get to that point at any time in one's life -- as that more than anything else, signals the beginning of the end -- when one no longer expects improvement but only to worsen more slowly -- at best.  That is not an actual physical point, as it is a state of mind.  So even if one hasn't solved all their problems by then, one still has the rest of their life to work on it -- and there is nothing more important to do -- with all that time one now has in retirement.  It's the beginning rather than the end -- for those who don't expect that improvement is any longer possible, or even preferable.  One hopes never to get that way, however many people do, and believe it is the only thing possible.

You'd think that nobody thought that way anymore -- with change and rapid improvement exploding all around them.  It's not just the cost of living has gone up -- but so has the quality of life -- that many fail to appreciate properly, or at all.  They simply take everything for granted -- as their entitlement.  The better is not guaranteed to everyone.

Preparation and Practice

Everything one does, is preparation and practice for everything one will subsequently do -- and so no matter how badly and tentatively one begins, they get better with persistence.  They don't get better just wishing to do so -- or thinking how to do it perfectly the first time.  It may be that they have no idea of what is really and actually involved -- until they actually manifest that knowledge in action (movement).  Of course it is always easier just to say and think one can -- because it looks so easy when other people do it -- usually because they've prepared and practiced it for many years, that it looks easy and effortless.

To the observer, they may not realize the full extent of what is actually being done -- but looks at the least significant aspect of it, and thinks that is all there is.  This is most obviously true in athletic performances and exercise -- yet all the participants think they are doing the same thing, with obviously different results and competence.  And even the self-proclaimed experts are confounded when reality does not conform to their theories and explanations -- and think they simply need a better theory and explanation, instead of realizing the truth of what is actually happening.

That is true for all arenas and actions -- from personal hygiene to personal finance -- and everything else in between.  For that reason, everybody does not end up with the same results -- and it is no mystery why that is.  A few become masters of what they do -- while many others have no clue as to what is actually being done.  Usually that is because they are not paying attention, being thoughtful and (self-) aware.  They may even think that such things are not possible -- or the primary task of every individual -- but just mindlessly follow the instructions from whomever they think is the "boss," and struggle mightily against such authority at every opportunity they can -- whether for their own good or not.

Often, everything they do, undermines everything they hope to do and accomplish in their lives, and they can never figure it out -- so distracted and mesmerized are they by all the wrong things.  They may be obsessed with the desire to be "rich and famous," but have no idea why that might be so, or what they should do to achieve that fame and fortune.  To them, it is only sufficient to desire to be rich and famous, so when their 15 seconds of fame manifest, they have no idea what to do.  Their opportunity has come and gone -- and they have no idea what happened.

But those who are prepared and have practiced, rise to such occasions -- because that is what their lives have been all about -- not just wishing and hoping that things were other than they actually are.  Whatever they are, and whatever beginning point, one actually has to do something -- no matter how humble that beginning seems.  The lack is always this fundamental lack of understanding and executing the basics -- and not what to do when they are rich and famous. That is not the problem.

So when they are not rich and famous, they still have whatever skills they've practiced and perfected -- and not simply the incessant demand for more -- of what they feel everybody has -- that should be their entitlement, because they "want" it more than everybody else.  That's no way to run a society, or even one's own life.  What each has, is mostly their own doing -- even while resorting to the marketplace to find out who is offering the best exchanges of value for value.  Before money is actually exchanged, the best off, will find out all the information available, and what is available -- rather than simply whatever anyone has to sell -- whether it sufficient, or perfectly fits their needs.  That takes practice in becoming one's own best expert.

That doesn't guarantee a satisfactory outcome, but necessarily gets one closer -- until one gets to that perfect solution, and not simply creating endlessly more problems.  That should be a clue that their solution is not the answer to their troubles, but merely perpetuates the problems, as well as that solution -- someone is invariably selling, as long as they can get away with it.  Once it no longer sells, then they have to come up with another gimmick -- hoping to attract another group of buyers -- who never solve their problem.  And so they learn to live with it, and live that way -- as their answer to all of life's problems.

They never expect to solve any problems of their own living -- and that is the whole point of it all.  Naturally and predictably, everything just gets worse -- and they believe that is the natural consequence of living a long life -- rather than the opportunity of it to make the most of all that time available.  Instead, they find ways to waste their time with endless distractions and diversions -- until they have no idea of whether they are coming or going, and are merely confused at every turn and development.

With what little they have, they don't make the best of it -- but make it even less, or waste it entirely. Nobody helps such people because there's no money to be had from doing so -- and so they have to figure these things out for themselves, which is the only way it can happen.  Those who are dependent on others for these answers, will invariably find that those solutions, benefit the sellers, and not themselves -- unless it can be of mutual benefit.  To eliminate that expensive middle man and derive all the benefits for themselves -- they have to do their own thinking.

And that is the whole point -- they are immeasurably better off for doing so.  That is where we all hope to be -- as much as possible for oneselves.  That is not optional or a luxury only the rich and privileged have -- but is the very foundation of wealth and well-being.  Otherwise, one is constantly at the mercy of others -- despite how much they insist they are doing it for our own good, and nothing is in it for them.

So ultimately, the practice is this awareness -- and not simply what they insist we believe. That is what killed the mainstream media, and all the other intermediaries.  We can go directly to the source.  It is a wonderful new world -- favoring the fearless in finding out what they need to know.  That is a world quite different from those insisting they know all that can be known -- and fit to publish.  Those were the days -- that aren't coming back.