Ever hear the phrase "Life's a game!"? It really is. No matter what you decide to do in life, there is competition and more importantly decisions to be made. Although not every decision leads to a life or death situation, some do. And any decision you make could change the course of your life. When I was younger, I had a friend who left a job at UPS to go work for a small fog light manufacturer with an office in New Jersey. The job didn't pay well, but when the company decided to open a plant in Georgia and close their New Jersey office, he decided to move with the job to Georgia. At the time I couldn't understand his decision. The company was a German manufacturer, so he was essentially moving from one satellite office to another...for the same low pay.
What I had failed to see was that he was moving to get a jump start on a new life. Without a college education, Jersey holds little appeal for a manual laborer without a lot of drive. Your pay is low, while your taxes and cost of living are high. To make matters worse, the type of house you can buy while making less than $50,000 a year are appallingly small and old. In hindsight, my friend was moving to improve his prospects in life. Regardless how much he made, his cost of living dropped dramatically, and he got a chance to create a new life for himself where no one knew him. Essentially, he could move down there and be whoever he wanted to be. No one would question his actions if his style of dress changed or if how he acted changed. In essence he took a chance to start over. Well played dude! Have you ever ran into someone you knew in high school or some other time frame in your life who didn't seem to change at all? How sad. I have met a number of people like that. They live in the past. They say hello and the first thing out of their mouth is "hey, do you remember that time...(and add your own stupid story)". When I run into someone I haven't seen in a while, I like to find out how they are doing now...not what drunken foolishness they did twenty years ago. Living in the past is a bad life move. There is so much out there to see and do. No need to relive the past over and over again. Yet we all do it. For myself, I think of my dead wife often. Nothing I can do can bring her back. By thinking of her, I sometimes feel like I hold myself back from meeting new people. No, I am not talking about getting married again. At this point, I have no desire to.At the same time, I do like to meet new people and do fun things. By living in the past, I sometimes feel like I steal from the present and limit my future. Like it or not, life is a game. Everything you do can make it a happy game, or a sad game. A healthy game or a deadly one. Not moving forward with your life is similar to skipping a turn. Life is very short. The best advice I can give you...or myself, is to not skip any turns. Life if for the living! Take some chances to improve your situation. To my daughters: Smile at the boy you like! Have a kind word for everyone. Avoid people you don't like...even if, and especially if you don't know why you don't like them. Life is a game, play smart and be happy.
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