More Fun Than You Really Wanted, part III of V

[The Good Reverend Roger]

We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why.  Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult.  In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.

We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder.  The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand?  So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly.  The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.

Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball.  We must ban its play from the entire school system.  Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.

This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them.  If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world.  They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.  

You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen.  You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"

An easy life is a wasted life.  Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.

[Whatever]

We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why.  Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult.  In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.

We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder.  The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand?  So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly.  The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.

Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball.  We must ban its play from the entire school system.  Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.

This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them.  If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world.  They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.  

You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen.  You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"

An easy life is a wasted life.  Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.

EXACTLY!!!!  And we are doing that great mind thing today, that was part of a rant I was working on already.....  How cool is that?

[Phox]

We have come to the age of "because you owe me" that's why.  Where this has come from is very simple, we stopped making life difficult.  In today's world the very whisper of a lawsuit can shut something down quicker than trying to have sex in an ice bath, so many things that used to require an actual effort, in this day require little more than the click of a mouse, if that.

We've stopped teaching our new generation that the whole idea is to work hard, play hard and love even harder.  The only part they even begin to comprehend is play and how hard is the play when you're sitting on your ass with a controller in your hand?  So yeah, you learn to shoot hos and steal badass cars and if you plug in the cheats your car can fly.  The fact that cheating in real life used to get you in jail, now, you get to go into politics.

Oh no, it hurt when you got hit with that rubber ball during a game of dodgeball.  We must ban its play from the entire school system.  Awww your poor little feelings got hurt because you were picked last for kickball (the fact that you kick like an anorexic girl and run slower than moss grows aside) we have to stop letting people have choices and just divide everyone down the middle.

This entire generation coming of age has had everything insulated for them.  If you think the current groups of 20-40 somethings are drones, just wait till these 90's babies start entering the real world.  They've bumped it a notch, they're drones with an attitude of self worth that is not based on actual ability or achievement but a bunch of lies they've been told so their wittle feelings won't be hurt.  

You can only rise above and make something of yourself if there have been challeges put in your path so you can learn how to rise above, otherwise, you stand at that wall and one of two things happen.  You discover the strength within you to do what must be done and climb over, burrow under or blow a fucking hole in it but you get by the wall, or you walk away and say "Fuck it! I'm going to go home and play Grand Theft Auto and eat cheetos!"

[LMNO]

What happened to getting SLACK™ and tipping the luck plane?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

What happened to getting SLACK™ and tipping the luck plane?

That's a common misconception.  Slack™ isn't sitting on the couch, 24/7, watching the Goddamn Dukes of Hazzard and eating Cheetohs, it's the state of enjoying the ride...And sloth just isn't actually all that enjoyable, over a period of time.  False Slack™ is a constant peril.

And the luck plane tips when you have Slack™...Remember the expression, "Do what you love to do, and the money will follow"? 

[Cramulus]

great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.

Now that I'm single, I am coming out of a rather antisocial period of my life, ready to make new friends and forge new experiences. I find myself at a party, drunk to the point of silliness, surrounded by new friends. And it feels GOOD to have ejected from the black iron prison I very carefully built during 2009 and 2010, but I can never silence the fear that I am wasting my time. That I'm going to suddenly discover some talent or interest and wish I'd spent the last few years throwing myself head first at it instead of just hanging out with my new friends.

A coworker of mine just started her Master's. She is kicking herself right now because if she had started her Masters when she originally intended to, she'd be done by now. Instead she drifted through leisure for a while before putting her nose to the grindstone.


But I'm reminded of Guy Deboard. He found his slack outside of the 9 to 5 (or whatever the French have. Like 10 to 3 or something, right?  ) He spent his life drifting from bar to bar, drinking wine and reading poetry, guided entirely by moment to moment impulses. And even though he died poor and drunk, I don't think he would have had it any other way.

I guess the question I'm wrestling with is what the fuck I SHOULD be doing with my life. How to bridge the gap between the lower self and the higher self. If you set your sights too low, you end up trapped in orbit around a sofa. If you set them too high, you end up frustrated and stretched too thin. I don't want to invest in the American Dream, the game's rigged. I want to save myself from the capitalist death contraption. I want wealth and luxury but I still want to be a bad ass motherfucker. ahhh the human condition!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.

Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing.  Basing your whole life on it is another.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

An easy life is a wasted life.  Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.

Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life.  I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.

[Cramulus]

great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.

Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing.  Basing your whole life on it is another.

true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?

[LMNO]

My guess is, by asking yourself those very questions.


I would think that the lost people don't ask themselves that; they just look towards the next level, the next pizza delivery, the next shift.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.

Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing.  Basing your whole life on it is another.

true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?

On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week.  You'll know.

[Adios]

An easy life is a wasted life.  Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.

Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life.  I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.

frodo?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

My guess is, by asking yourself those very questions.


I would think that the lost people don't ask themselves that; they just look towards the next level, the next pizza delivery, the next shift.

This.

[Cramulus]

great OP.. I find myself wrestling with this issue. I go on a lot more adventures than most people I know, but I do still find myself losing entire weeks of my life to the latest video game. I am not really pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing to climb the career ladder, but I am still skeptical that I'm on the right ladder anyway.

Taking a 2-3 week sanity break is one thing.  Basing your whole life on it is another.

true, but where's the line? How can I tell if I'm TOO deep in the cracks between the couch cushions? How can I know if I'm pushing myself hard enough?

On Sunday, ask yourself if you actually enjoyed the previous week.  You'll know.

Simple and effective! I feel like that was staring me in the face. See, this is why I come to you for advice.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

An easy life is a wasted life.  Not saying life should be nasty, brutal, and short (unless you're EoC, who is all 3 of these things), but it shouldn't be a walk in the park, either.

Also, don't anyone believe EoC's outraged denial of his vertically-challenged life.  I've met him, and he's only 4'11", with disproportionate limbs.

frodo?

Well, yeah, but I didn't see him mooning at Sean Astin.