If I was born 100 years earlier, my life would have started in 1896. I’d be 18 years old by the year 1914 ; most likely my life would have ended in a muddy ditch of northeastern France during WWI.
Another 100 years earlier, I would be a 1796 kid. Likewise, I would probably be enlisted in the Grande Armée, just long enough to see the final days of the Napoleonic era. Chances are I wouldn’t have made a great soldier : English horsemen’s sabers, Prussian cannonballs or Russian bayonet charges would most likely have got the better of me…
Anyway !
These simple observations bring me to a simple conclusion : I am absolutely blessed to have made it to 27 years old, and infinitely lucky to be living here and now.
Now the only worthwhile question is what to do with these extra years I’m granted the privilege to live. How not to waste them ?
The trap of self-improvement
I see two possible answers to this : self-improvement or indulgence.
Just like the pursuit of money, self-improvement is a trap. It fosters the idea that you are never enough, hindering your self-confidence. In addition, it is a universe filled of know-it-all who will fake confidence to sell you whatever course or product they’re peddling. On top of that, they have an exasperating tendency to translate anything of this world (dating, finance, sports…) into (most of the time complex) codified systems that you need to study hard to harness, by being a good pupil of theirs, of course.
(I’m writing these lines in spite of being a huge client of personal development content.)
Indulgence and idleness are great. Read the following publication if you want to know why :
BUT you don’t want to use them as your main compass, as they will lead you to no place where you want to be. What you want is to find a balance that I call…
Self-exploitation
Imagine you’ve been offered a Ferrari with unlimited gas. You can preciously keep it in the garage, so that nothing happens to it, but it will soon be covered with dust… and you’ll never know what it’s capable of, nor enjoy it.
Or, you can try and see what it’s capable of. Hear its motor roar. Drive it in as many places you can drive it.
This is exactly what’s happening to you : you’ve been given something a thousand times more powerful than a Ferrari. And you are free to make any use of it that you will.
Don’t (simply) be daydreaming, don’t wander aimlessly. But don’t either become a freak, obsessed with his own improvement. Instead of improving yourself, exploit yourself : make sure you go through as much effort as you can tolerate. Put your body and mind to work every second you can, for you will have all the time needed to rest once you’re dead.
One of my favorite idea ever, which I unfortunately discovered quite late in my life, is the following : our body is not a power battery, that stocks a finite amount of energy. We’re more alike to power plants : the more you need energy, the more abundantly your body will give it to you.
Reality check
One of my favorite quote is from Socrates :
“It’s a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable”.
The same applies to your life as a whole : you get only one shot at making your years count. If you’re not exhausted already from the adventures you went through over the past year, then you’re already late !
Another way to put it is that one : most people die at 25, but aren’t buried until they’re 75.
To whoever needs to read this : don’t be the Ferrari in a garage.
Let the motor roar !
Paul
The best edition I've read so far!
Keep them going! Thanks for sharing!
🏎️