Life's A Gift

You know what? I'm pretty much a freaking idiot. I do everything I do for no reason. I don't believe there is a better reason to do it! No one can convince me there's a better motive out there to do something than "no reason." Shoot.

When I was a kid, I was about 7 years old...I had a moment. An epiphany, you might say. Suddenly I saw myself as an adult. I thought: beard, probably. Because no way was I going to drag a sharp piece of metal across my face daily! But apart from that hassle (I didn't particularly want the beard), the picture looked pretty sweet. I could eat spaghetti every night if I wanted. Ice cream? Sure! What flavor? Whatever you want! Adults call the shots! Get set for how sweet that's going to be!

And I tell you, it's just been so sweet and true to that. Adulthood rules.

Work, yeah, sure - a pain in the ass, right? Everybody says. But shit, I rule at what I do. When you rule at what you do, there's a certain amount of satisfaction there. Not because it's some dream job, but because you make a point of giving your all. Because you don't hold yourself out of being fully involved. I mean, I'm stuck there doing it, right? I'm there at work. I can't leave and go to the beach. So if I'm stuck there, why on earth would I not choose to rule? Sure yes, it's a pain in the ass sometimes to not be able to just go to the beach. But work is still WAY better than school. No homework. No teachers talking down to you all the time, condescending to your intelligence, talking at you like a kid - hell, at work if somebody decides they want to teach me something, decides I need to learn something - they broach that prospect with respect and deference! They think I need to learn something, and even better yet there's a reason for it. Wow, what a concept! It's not just this empty exercise, "oh, let's all get set to advance to the next level of hand-stamps, academia-wise." You know? I mean sure, school got pretty thrilling there too, towards the end. But work is much better.

You put in your time, 40, 50, maybe 60 hours a week...tops. Right? Not generally more than that. While you're there on the job, if your head's on straight and you commit to give your all, you will probably get quite a lot out of it! No matter that it's a "mindless" "boring" "office" "drone" job. You put yourself into it, you will make it more than that. No, I'm not talking about advancement, Dagwood. I'm talking immediate investment of your full strength, yielding immediate returns and growth on same. This is elementary life math. Anybody who sells their self short is only sabotaging their own happiness, every damn day. You're already cashing the check they cut you, right? Okay then. If you do that, but you're holding out for something...if you take the money you agreed to take, and don't give in what you're capable of...who are you hurting with that? Does this stinginess with your self help you in some way? I mean, are you getting something from it? I understand maybe you feel undervalued, or that people don't deserve the full shot of what you have to offer, or maybe the world just owes you interest on your lump sum of wonderfulness. But while you're holding yourself out waiting to collect on that, maybe consider that you're the cause of some of your own dissatisfaction there, boss.

It actually doesn't take more energy out of you to give your all to whatever you happen to be engaged in. It actually grows your all. And then at the end of the day, the rest of the day and your life is just...yours. Your life is yours. And there are so many things you can do, for no reason.

Life's a gift. You've got one. See what happens when you give it.

Bear in mind, I am pretty much a freaking idiot, though. I mean, I've gathered that.