Satisfying the Minimum Requirements

Chapter One Hundred

 

A person's goal in life should be not only be to meet -
but to exceed the absolute bare minimum
expectations demanded of them.

A person's goal in life should be to just try and
make it through
the day.




-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



These two conflicting concepts have been ailing me for as long as I can remember. Even before I had the means of coming up with goals for myself, I was being set down the "right" path with the hope that I may one day "succeed" by "accomplishing" something "worthwhile" in life. Amidst a sea of poverty, class war, judgement & partiality, and competition. Good luck.


For a large portion of my life, I am proud to say that I have adequately achieved at least the minimum requirements for the most important things in my life. I have an adequate social life, adequate education, adequate love life, adequate debt, adequate career prospects, and adequate health. Man, I hate that word now!


What I am getting at here is that maybe a person's own personal standar ds/expectations have a lot to do with his/her personal happiness. And that perhaps a person has only so much will-power OR so much capacity of achieving the standards that they set for them self, say, for a certain time-limit, before that person simply lowers the bar.


Don't do it. Even if you think it's too late for you, stop & think. Really, it's all about perspective, and if you take a few moments to realize your own untapped potential you have just done the hardest part. Once that part is done, the capacity of conquering even your wildest dreams exists inside of you - whether you think you have the time to invest into pursuing those dreams or not.


Don't let sloth, complacency, comfort & security, or fear stop you!!


Recently I finished Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. It's a story about Do-ers and followers. It's a story about what it means to have conviction and pride and not allowing yourself being taken for granted. Just Get'r Done. And not just with respect to the "workl" world either. Once you get that dream job, don't stop there. Work towards conquering that next big conquest. It doesn't have to even be "exciting". You might decide to witness more sunrises, get a haircut, or maybe even something as dull as reading Atlas Shrugged! Call that long-lost friend. Nail that broad. Marry your soulmate. Have the confidence that you can DEMAND something more from this misery called life.


Set your goals and follow through with a plan to achieve them. Idle chit chat? No thank you. Focus. Every single day. One day at a time.

Are the goals too tough to achieve? Completely unattainable? Maybe then - yes indeed - just go ahead and lower your expectations. s e t t l e. Don't worry about that soul mate, dream job, or 2nd language. Be happy with who you are, and don't try and transform yourself into something you are not. Don't bother being the change you want to see. After all - you're not that great.

"Do what you want, but don't do it around me -
idleness and dissipation breed apathy"

Bad Religion