A friend of mine said something at a recent meeting that hit me right between the eyes: “This new generation is all screwed up. They don’t even come to work with headaches from the night before. They don’t know how to live; they’re just trying to succeed.” I had to ask, “Succeed in what?” Because if you’re charging ahead without any sense of where your mind’s at, without even a glance back to ask why or if it even matters—you’re on a fast track to nowhere.
It’s as if life’s become some relentless pursuit, a competition with the clock, with each other, with ghosts of what we think we’re supposed to be. Maybe they’re racing the Chinese, or maybe it’s the endless hunger to “get there” before they even know where “there” is. It seems we’ve all bought into this grand illusion that life is nothing more than a race with a single finish line. But what’s the rush? This Earth isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the prize at the end—if there’s even one to begin with.
If you don’t enjoy and hate your job all at once, are you even really living? You’ve got to feel the grit of the grind, and sometimes the bliss of breaking it. There’s a strange beauty in loving what you do and cursing it just the same. It’s part of the old rhythm: work hard, play harder, find a little bit of heaven in between. And yes, that sometimes means drinking, celebrating, or destroying yourself just a little bit to taste the richness of life.
We’re so quick to demonize self-indulgence, to shame anyone who dares to stop and savor the mess of it all. We want everything in neat, manageable packages. But life? Life’s never neat. It’s chaotic, beautiful, maddening—and that’s exactly what gives it meaning.
Yet somehow, we’ve come to expect life to arrive like the latest iPhone, shipped from some Amazon warehouse, boxed up perfectly, right to our door. All polished, convenient, instant, and ready to consume. We’re fed this streamlined version of living—just tap, swipe, add to cart. But is that what living is?
I like this part ” Life’s never neat. It’s chaotic, beautiful, maddening—and that’s exactly what gives it meaning.” I just need to remember it more
Thanks Amigo!!