There comes a point in life where a line needs to be drawn—a point where we throw caution, uncertainty, and fear to the wind.
This happens for many people with the diagnosis of a terminal illness, where one will aggressively pursue the things they had set aside and live life exactly as they wish to—no wasted time, no unnecessary obligations, just life as one would desire it to be lived.
Inspected more closely, this isn’t just the case for people who know that the end of life is near. We all will reach a point where life as we know it will come to an end, which then implies that we will all have a moment where everything ceases and there is no other chance at life besides the flash in time and space you presently occupy.
We go on living on other people’s terms because we have tricked ourselves into believing that there will always be time to really enjoy life, where everything will come together in a wonderful, spectacular arrangement. This thought couldn’t be further from the truth, at least so far that following it to the end will lead to much wasted time and opportunity, and ultimately regret.
Once we can acknowledge that we will have to call the bluff we’ve been playing ourselves with, we can look at what is stopping us from making the call right now. Is it what others will think? Is it that it’ll be uncomfortable? Do we fear the isolation that could come with such a decision?
Again, acknowledging that the call must be made can give us the courage to make the call whenever we so please. Ask yourself, what is stopping me?
If you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you’ll spend your life completely wasting your time. You’ll be doing things you don’t like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing thing you don’t like doing, which is stupid.
~ Alan Watts