Skip to main content

Life and Leisure—and Everything in Between

Oh that wonderful feeling when you hit a dry spell, and you can’t do nothing about it. So, rather than not writing at all today, what I will attempt to do is to write at least 300 words of drivel in a desperate pitch to try and maintain my posting schedule. Bear with me guys, there’s a chance that this post is going to run away from me.

The fact of the matter is, I have a ton of article ideas sitting in the back burner. The problem is that I don’t have the time or the inclination to research / work on them since, well, I was feeling under the weather over the weekend, and I just really haven’t had the time to actually get anything aside from work done.

I know, I know. That’s the usual complaint. Life gets in the way of living. But anybody past the age of 21 knows how true this is.

Work-till-you-drop-1

Taken from The Badass Blogger.

There are contrasting points of views when it comes to the whole life versus play argument, actually. Most people who live and breathe in the rank and file believe in balance; you work hard, and you play just as hard. This is, if we are to take my Facebook feed into account, the predominant attitude towards life. And it’s easy to see why; the whole concept of hard work being rewarded is comforting in the midst of the harsh realities we have to encounter day in and day out. Hard day at work? Dude, prop up your feet, pour yourself a cold one, and rest the night away. You’ve been burning your brain for the past few months on a project? Take a week off, man. Go to the beach. Get drunk. Unwind.

This is, at its core, very Pavlovian. The sight of the prize is enough to make you salivate. And if there’s anything we humans are capable of, it’s working hard when we’ve got our goal in sight. Runners and bikers go their fastest when the finish line is just off the horizon. The man adrift in sea for days gets a sudden surge of power when he sees land, and swims like a superhuman. They’re spent and tired when they reach their goal, and they’re not even sure if they’re going to achieve anything—they could still be overtaken at the finish line, or the island off the horizon might be a desert with very little chance of supporting life. But that doesn’t really matter.

At the other end of the spectrum, are the tycoons, the empire builders. The people with a consistent goal in their mind. These are the people who don’t compromise. One of the richest men in China spends no more than the equivalent of $20 a day. New entrepreneurs and CEOs go without sleep for days because they’re busy making money. This is how the elite roll, people, and they believe in postponing gratification for a much bigger pay off at a much later date.

These same people, instead of blowing their money on things like good booze, good food, and nice vacations, put it into retirement savings. They invest in stocks that pay decent dividends per month, thereby increasing their net earnings per annum. They wear cheap clothing, because expensive clothes are, well, expensive.

Perhaps the same analogy I used earlier can be applied here, expect that these people have better sights than the rest of us. These are the people who can see their goal from a mile away, and plan accordingly. But goals take a lot of work, and if you add that on top of your real work, I guess one can question if you really are living a life, or if you’re letting your life control the way you live.

I don’t know how to end this post properly without waxing cheesy or non-partisan, so I’m going to do myself a favor and cut my rambling here.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maynilad Water Chronicles: The Clusterf$%#, Part 2

This is the third post in our Maynilad Water chronicles. This time, we will talk about just how inept their record keeping skills are in the face of a massive overhaul in a given area. This involves a technique used by Meralco in high-risk areas called clustering, and is efficient – if utilized correctly. Needless to say, Maynilad has yet to be able to do this.
Post a Comment
Read more

Clarity in Three Parts

i Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan Iniwanan at iba ang pinuntahan Parang babaeng mahirap talagang malimutan Ikaw lamang ang aking laging binabalikan Manila, Manila I keep coming back to Manila Simply no place like Manila Manila, I'm coming home I walked the streets of San Francisco I've tried the rides in Disneyland Dated a million girls in Sydney Somehow I feel like I don't belong Hinahanap-hanap kita Manila Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga Mga Jeepney mong nagliliparan Mga babae mong naggagandahan Take me back in your arms Manila And promise me you'll never let go Promise me you'll never let go Manila, Manila Miss you like hell, Manila No place in the world like Manila I'm coming here to stay ii. Too, uh, cheesy to mention. Check the lyrics here . iii. I've been drunk or inebriated every day of this week since Saturday last week; since I'm holding an inuman party
1 comment
Read more

Manila Series: Parks of Manila

The other day, I read the post of a friend who was ranting about how Manila can only be beautiful when seen from a specific light. I could understand what he means, because Manila is the center of traffic in the NCR. The poor are here in full force, the most corrupt policemen are here, and honestly, there is no discipline whatsoever. But here’s something that I’ve discovered. You walk Manila. You don't drive it. It isn't the most walkable city in the world, but what can be seen when you do walk it is fantastic. And when you walk around the city, you don’t encounter the corrupt cops (because they’re going after the drivers), you don’t deal with traffic. You can’t do anything about the poor, though. Unless they’re doing something productive, and not just begging, I avoid them. If they’re cleaning up trash, or something similar, then I give them cash.
Post a Comment
Read more