Life is short is one of those conventional wisdoms that's actually halfway true.
The absolute truth though is that this moment right now is actually all there is.
Whatever you think the future is going to be like,
By the time it rolls around,
It too will be now.
Yes circumstances will be different,
But you'll still be looking out from behind your eyes,
Feeling pretty much the same as you did when you were little.
The moment of death will be a moment just like this one,
Except that the false promise of the future will really be seen for what it is,
Imaginary and not guaranteed.
The moment of death could come at any time.
If you practice mindfulness,
You may not create regret on your deathbed,
But even if you don't,
It's still a good idea to do what you love,
Whatever that may be.
Do you enjoy partying?
Go party.
Do you enjoy putting in 12 hour days on your business?
Go work.
Do you enjoy meditating?
Meditate.
And don't listen for one second longer than you're willing to anyone who tells you that you should be doing something else.
You might be willing to consider other points of view,
And that's fine,
Why is even.
But the moment you let any shoulds,
Ought,
Or musts into your own mindstream,
You're trapped in self-imposed limitation.
And what a shame it is to live any moment of this marvelous human life in a cage.
Wisdom has a way of getting done what must be done.
If you're listening to this talk,
You're probably warm,
Dry,
And fed.
You may be telling yourself some stories about some other things that must be done,
But are they musts?
Really?
We're trained to force ourselves to do things,
Even if we don't want to do them.
The word homework still makes most of us groan in resentment.
And we tend to hold on to this training right through our adult lives.
Why are we trained in this way?
Fear.
Fear that we won't be okay unless we punish ourselves now in order to be okay later.
It's a false economy.
Many of us live our entire lives like this,
And we miss the trees.
We miss the jokes.
We miss each other.
Could it not be that if we allow our natural curiosities to flourish,
Then we'll all be able to provide for ourselves and our loved ones,
Not by means of drudgery,
But by inspired contribution?
Some manage this.
Why not you?
Is it possible for us to just do what we love until we get really good at it,
And then watch this blossom into a career?
People told me I couldn't,
But I did.
And I think this is more possible now in 2020 than ever.
People are making a living playing video games.
And that's not just the exceptionally dedicated youngsters who are winning million dollar prizes at esports events,
But regular folks sharing their love of the medium online and earning 25k a year.
When I was young,
The overwhelming narrative was that video games were a waste of time.
Now they're a viable career.
In amongst all of this is a grave misconception about how learning works.
Children are herded into school where teachers are told to force them to learn.
But this is not neurologically possible.
No one can be forced to learn.
Oh,
People can be coerced into hard work.
And this is mostly what's happening in schools.
A little bit of information might go in if it's repeated enough times.
If there is any desire to learn at all in the average secondary school student,
It's based in fear around what will happen if they don't.
Would you,
As an adult,
Choose to put yourself in a condition of fear for the next 13 years?
I hope not.
And yet you may already be so conditioned to it that you can't imagine another way.
But it's never too late to start doing what matters to you.
You may have certain obligations to attend to.
It's not wise to leave people hanging if they're depending on you.
But you can begin to alter the conditions of your life almost immediately if you want to.
Imagine what would you do today if universal basic income were implemented immediately?
A period of rest might be appropriate.
Although if you're listening to this around the time of recording,
You may have already had your fill of that thanks to Covid.
But what then?
You wake up naturally,
Feeling refreshed and energised,
With nothing on your calendar.
What do you choose to do?
I have a strong suspicion that this would lead to your greatest contribution to the world.
This doesn't have to be an all or nothing game.
You can keep your job and continue to contemplate what's been said here.
My encouragement to you is to get quiet enough to allow some natural curiosity to arise.
And then follow it.
Let your curiosity buy you that musical instrument you always wanted to try.
Let it take you to that location you think of visiting from time to time.
Let it keep you up at night researching tattoo artistry.
So what if you're tired the next day?
You'll make it through.
And you might just find that enrichment is more nourishing than sleep.
