Alright, its been while since I’ve done a blog post on myself, or included something other than a video post. So here we go. Over the past several days I have been doing a lot of thinking, and since we are rapidly approaching spring it’s got me focused on my life, health and entertainment. Some people set new years resolutions or give something up for lent. I realized I pretty much have been just kind of drifting through life for the past 3 years just working, eating, watching tv, and sleeping. In other words my life has stagnated. I spend time looking back at all the fun I had in college and in high school, and long for that again. I fear that this stagnation in my life will continue until I am old enough to retire, and to be honest that scares the shit out of me.
I began to realize that all the fun in HS and in college revolved around new things. Doing, learning, and experimenting. New places, new people, new things, and new decisions made that part of my life so rewarding. Not just with alcohol and drugs but learning how to live on your own, manage your money, meet new people, try new things, and deal with responsibilities of life. What made this rewarding was that while learning about the downside of responsibilities, I could offset this with fun.
Now that I am older and have graduated from college, responsibilities tend to get in the way of fun, and although I am learning new things, I am not getting that kick out of life I loved so much when I was in college. I am beginning to realize that the fun doesn’t have to end just because you’re out of college, just the type of things you do has to change. After all change is what makes life worth living.
As an example: When I was in high school, it was great to just aimlessly drive around town with the windows down in my car, and listen to music. While this is fun still today, it’s not nearly as great as it once was. Partying and getting drunk on the weekends lost some of its appeal as well, and at times you find yourself asking what more is there to life. Some people answer this question by settling down and getting married or having kids. The rest of us kind of just hang out there wondering what to do next. Searching for meaning and purpose to life, yet not quite ready to give away money, freedom, and time. While I am sure getting married and having kids is really unbelievably rewarding, I feel as though while I am still young I need to live my life more, as I have all the time in the world to get married.
I once read that more than 50% of all marriages end in a divorce. If kids are involved it often causes issues and problems in the life of the child. With odds tilted against you from the very beginning, and with so much to lose if it doesn’t work out (lose 1/2 of your stuff, alimony, pain, anger, resentment etc.) its not something I wish to rush into. Think about it, what other types of risks would you take were the odds were stacked that high against you? What if you jumped out of an airplane and your parachute had a 40% chance of opening? Would you jump?
I suppose this could be an extreme comparison to some, but not to me. A child requires 18 years of undivided attention and resources – minimum. Call me selfish, but I don’t want to be locked into anything in my life, not in my 20’s at least. I love change, and love new experiences. I intend to get more out of my life this year, and stop drifting through life getting fatter and looking back at how great my life used to be. I’m not dead yet.
After writing this post and pondering about title for it, I came up with the “Proclamation of Life” I thought it was a great title, and in searching Google for the term to make sure I was using it correctly discovered other peoples proclamations! It just so happens that the very first listing in Google happened to share many of the same outlooks on life that I did! Nice job Google!
So I am borrowing his and modifying it slightly as I am not as poetic.
Here it is MY PROCLAMATION OF LIFE 2010.
On this day, one do hereby vow to live
ones life in reason, and logic.
One vow to embrace the phases of life.
One does not need religion or guidance from a superstitious source.
One is self-reliant and independent.
From this day forward,
hence now and into the future,
one vows to remain in control of ones self,
think about ones surroundings,
think bigger and outside the box of religion,
remain independent from the bible and religion,
accept science as truth but never stop thinking, questioning, and challenging,
remain a rationalist thinker and being,
fight for freedom for all,
question the ways of life and nourish the mind,
to always be ones self.
and to live by these codes.
The codes:
Self-control, Thinking, Independence, Questioning, Challenging,
Freedom, Rationalist, Atheist, Agnostic, and Science.
These codes are ones way of living and existence.