I wish I could be lazy and be OK with it
Everything written in this article, comes from my personal perspective. Proceed with caution :).
I see the world in a funny way. I classify people within one of the two groups:
- People who play victims (most of the time), who take no responsibility in life and allow it to just “flow”, who complain a lot and who often say “That’s just the way it is” — group A.
- People who are being proactive; they know their life direction, take conscious action to either turn left or right when necessary, and know how to take full responsibility i.e. everything what happens in their life, is a direct result of their past decisions — group B.
And just to be clear; I do not see people as “us” and “them”. I honestly think both groups are absolutely fine actually necessary, for our system. There are those rare few, who get lazy or experience realization, and jump from one group to another. But most of the time, the vast majority stays in the one, that their life began with. And again, that is perfectly OK.
I consider myself to be a part of the group B. At the end of the day, I have a tattoo saying “do more” on my forearm — for a reason. I see substantially more advantages, if one possesses the group B mindset, compared to the other one. I also dare to say, it is much better for one’s future. Then again, I am, from time to time, quite jealous of the group A. Or let say, to the minority within that group.
What does it take, to feel happy i.e. fulfilled?
I feel lucky, to know a few individuals, who fit the group B. We share similar world views, we walk similar paths, we work hard day in and day out, trying to get closer to our goals. We also share similar pain, feelings of occasional depression, and extreme rollercoasters of “ups and downs”.
Luckily, again, none of them look down upon those, who are in group A, but there are many people out there, who do. I can sympathize with them though. They often say: “Look at him, being broke, stuck at 9–5, with an average looking girlfriend, getting drunk on the weekends etc”. I certainly do not want to be like that, but I do get moments, when I wish, that that was enough. To be like that and feel truly happy. Because some people are genuinely satisfied with that. They really are.
First they have their “fun time” during college. Then, they find a stable job and a boyfriend / girlfriend. Together, they decide to settle down, so they buy a house and sooner or later, their first baby pops up. There might be a second or third one coming up later on though. They enjoy hanging out with friends and relatives, save up money during the year, to go on vacation here and then, and they just pretty much live a quiet and peaceful life. Sure they have some debt to pay, but other than that, life is great. Taking it easy in the afternoon and on the weekends is their favourite. They have no desire to learn new things, no desire to set higher goals for themselves and no feeling of missing out.
And sometimes, I am so jealous of that.
I love being disciplined, effective, efficient and productive. I always have to have a project I’m working on, and see regular progress being done. I feel bad and guilty during those days, when I see none. I wonder how it would feel, to honestly be OK, without doing anything. To spend a whole weekend with my friends and family, and on Sunday night realize, I’m still where I was on Friday, with my work and projects. To not worry much about life, where things are going, what is the meaning of all this and what kind of mark I can leave behind, for my friends, family and everyone else.
To look at how Steve Jobs shaped our lives and not feeling small. To say “hmm, isn’t that interesting”, and just move on. To watch Elon Musk launch rockets into space, and then calmly go back in from of the TV, to watch another episode of Friends. I wonder how that’d be like.
But then I wake back up.
Since I am the type of a person, who always is in a happy mood, ready to do the work, who sees no point in complaining, who embraces chaos and loves to accept full responsibility — because of that, I feel obliged to do more and more work every day. To put my emotions aside, remain objective and just do what needs to be done.
And if you know what I’m talking about, then you should get back to work as well.
~Jackie
