Don't Take Life Too Seriously
It feels like in the world that we live in today, everyone is running some kind of race, oftentimes being completely unaware of it. They are stuck in a perpetual cycle of living to work instead of working to live; they spend years climbing the corporate ladder, spending decades of their life working only to end up in a position that did not turn out to be as fulfilling as they had hoped; or they spend their entire lives being frugal with their spending, hesitating to ever treat themselves to a rewarding experience, despite that being the very purpose of money.
Like all things, these things are not bad in and of themselves- I’ve always emphasized the importance of moderation and the falsehood of dualistic labels. The pursuit of pure material success, however you choose to imagine it, is an understandable one, just one that I do not think is built to endure. Eventually, there comes a point where we must ask ourselves, “is this it?” Despite our genuine effort to attain something we thought we wanted, the end result inevitably comes up short of our idea of lasting contentment.
In Buddhist traditions, the fleetingness of life is a major tenet. It is recognized that emotions, both “good” and “bad”, will invariably subside. For this reason, non-attachment to ideas, possibilities, and concepts is paramount, for these will undoubtedly fail to last very long or even occur at all. By not associating our very beings with a mental notion, we come to realize that we are not, in fact, synonymous with our desires and that our identities exist independently.
Following this train of thought, there is good news: it is still possible to set goals and strive for accomplishing them in a pragmatic and healthy way. The solution is quite straightforward; we simply must embrace every result that comes our way with full acceptance, taking great care to not let external circumstances disturb our peace of mind.
Of course, we must obviously aim for accomplishing our goals with utmost focus, determination, and effort. The only thing that must change is our attitude when things do not seem to go our way. Frustration, anger, annoyance, and exasperation are all normal emotions to experience, and it is perfectly acceptable if they arise- however, we must be careful to not let them overtake us. In other words, it all must come back to feeling, detaching, observing, and moving on.
A quick litmus test that you can perform at any time to determine if your mind is racing is to notice your present (or recurring) attitudes. Do you find yourself getting upset in traffic regularly? Are you regularly stressed out about the future, often over trivial matters? If this sounds like you, all you need to do is just try your best to notice when these attitudes arise and remember, “it’s ok.” That’s it. This simple phrase anchors us back to a state of presence and serves as a reminder that as long as we are in this moment, everything is alright.
When an apparent obstacle (such as an emotion) appears on our path, we must treat it as a mere hurdle and not as a total obstruction. It’s about the journey, not the destination.
We must remember that life is a game that is meant to be played. It should not be full of fret, anxiety, stress, or anything else of the sort. The power of a simple smile can go a long way in reminding you that life should be lived with bliss.
Life is a joke :)
Additional Resources
A speech by Alan Watts on this exact subject. He’s one of my biggest influences and I highly recommend any of his works.
This article goes in-depth about how to prevent and deal with worrying about the future.
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