A Dissertation on the Human Condition

[gregthecrazy]

At face value, I know that you're thinking this post is way too long to give a good read, and that--at best--you plan to skim through it.  Don't.  I encourage you to read what I have to say here, and to do so with an open mind.  Afterwards, give it some thought.  And, if the spirit moves you, post your opinions--they'd be greatly appreciated.

Comments

[anonymous]

hey greg, I found myself coming home tonight to an empty house with nothing to do and at the same time so much to do. I saw your away messege and was extremly curious to see what thoughts you had in mind today. I see what you are saying about people settling for a life besides the one that they have dreamt about their whole lives. But unfortuantly i once heard this quote when i was about fourteen years old and i understood what it meant but never until recently can put myself in those shoes " life is what happens while your busy making plans" you can dream your whole life about the man you will marry, the freinds you will have, the career you will be recognized for, and the family you will help build. However, no one is perfect and therefore you will never find a man you loves you exactly the same as you love him or vise versa... while at the same time is the perfect everything because in reality i belive the whole " do you love him because hes perfect.. or is he perfect because you love him" i belive that when u marry some1 that is less then perfect in someone else's eyes you are not settling you are loving their every perfection and understanding their imperfections while realizing your own.. and as for the career that you say peopel wake up to every day and its not the one that they dreamt. that very well may be, however, when life's not so perfectness brings bills, and a life to live that cant be without money you are forced to settle for the job that can provide. Im not saying that some people arent lucky enough to get the job of thier dreams.. but i belive even those people, once they get those jobs they always want more. And i belive thats just human nature. so to wrap this all up, yes when you look at another person's life from an outside perspective you may think to yourself " this could be be the life that they dreamed of all their life" however, those people are the ones that chose to make the best of what life brought them.

- tell me what you think greg
<3 suky

[gregthecrazy]

It was John Lennon who so famously sung that "life is what happens while you're busy making other plans" in a song for his son, Sean, called "Beautiful Boy." And as a rabid Beatles fan, as most everyone knows, I accept the words of the Fab Four as sermon. However, the life of John Lennon suggests a man who never believed in changing his mind to change his world. When everyone in his life told him he'd become a failure, when both his parents had abandoned him, he proved the world wrong by never giving up and becoming perhaps the most iconic rock celebrity of all time. When he felt as if The Beatles were no longer what made him happy--a notion that seems bizarre to the rest of the world looking in--he quit and followed his passions, the same passions that led him to the love of his life, a love that nearly everyone criticized and counted out.

The point is, however, that you make a good point. I'm afraid what I've written may be read as a sweeping generalization. I didn't intend it to be, nor do I believe that every person settles. Just a majority. I do admire the working class hero that creates a life for himself from his broken dreams, a Phoenix from the ashes. But we must keep in mind that all of this is not written in black and white, but, as with most things in life, in shades of gray. Where do we draw the line between what is an impossible dream and what is attainable, between what we've been dealt and what we've accepted? Again, we should refer to the old adage: "Lord, give me the strength to accept what I cannot change, the strength to change what I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." It is just my feeling that--and this is in NO way a criticism or a value judgement--that many people are more readily willing to accept and very afraid to change, either because they do actually lack the wisdom to see the difference, or, much more troubling, they lack the courage to change what they don't feel they could. I don't mean to come off presumptious, but, are there not times in the dead of night that you wonder if your acceptance comes more from an unwillingness to fight for something more rather than an absence of need to?

Just some stuff to think about. I don't really have the answers, I see that--just more questions.