Give Up, Don’t Give up
March 8th, 2009 • Comments »
News flash, people: Apathy is on the rise. As life continues to deliver the harsh blows, people are giving up on their ideals, hopes and dreams. The “I don’t care” mentality seems to become increasingly prevalent as people get older. Here in the small town in which I live, I constantly encounter people who work hard, pay their bills, go to church, and raise their kids, but without much else going on upstairs, or anywhere else for that matter. Not just the older folks, either. People of all ages seem to be losing their ability to think about and subsequently discuss anything beyond the realm of small talk, gossip, or who did what on their favorite reality television show.
Not that I am completely innocent in this regard. With a family of four, two full-time jobs, and a new house to take care of, I rarely have enough energy at the end of the day to do more than dive onto the couch and watch some mindless television show. But even so, I hate this behavior. I despise the way the world manages to suck up all of your time, money, and energy. Dealing with other overworked, underpaid people on an everyday basis is enough to make you want to scream. Think about it: when was the last time you were able to engage in a meaningful discussion about life, death, philosophy, or spirituality? It is sad to see the mass migration of clones jump into that lifeless, mainstream mentality of apathy and mindlessness.
There have been times when life has kicked me so hard that I wanted to give up. Cuts that ran so deep that I wanted to just throw in the towel. After all, fighting day after day to keep your dream alive takes every ounce of effort you’ve got — it doesn’t take that many apathetic idiots to discourage you, refuse to help, or deny your efforts before you start asking yourself, “what’s the point?” Why continue to fight and fight and work my fingers to the bone just to achieve some lofty goal set for myself many moons ago? Why not just give up, roll over, and take it like a man? After all, beyond yourself, nobody wants to see you succeed. Nobody wants to watch you win. Everyone is so busy doing everything they can to do nothing new that your efforts to shine are rejected and hated in wholesale fashion.
But if you can hear this, and you haven’t given up on progress, I say to you: keep going. Keep pushing forward. Never mind the bastards who hate you and want to watch you fail just so they can win by default. Don’t let the apathetic bring you down. You have something that they do not. You possess something that they have lost. You are working toward something that they despise: Success. Personal betterment. Lifestyle improvement. Spiritual awareness. Whatever it is, keep going. Pursue your dreams in spite of those that do not care, who shrug it all off, as, “whatever, dude.” Let them sit and stare and be entertained with their television wasteland. Let them mock your efforts and laugh at your mistakes. Let them hope for your failure, your misery, your execution. By trying, you have already won the game. Success is yours every day that you do not give up. We reap what we sow, it is true. So continue to sow with every ounce of your being and let the apathetic reap the tragedy that is already theirs.
Or don’t. An equally valid line of thinking is to simply give up and go with the flow. Let go of those silly ideals and dreams of your past and embrace the future. Embrace change. Embrace the moment without expectation and live your life one day at a time. Focus on the now and do what you are meant to do as each moment unfolds before you. You are exactly where you are meant to be, doing exactly what you were meant to do. Holding onto past notions and fighting in vain to achieve pointless goals will only bring you misery. There is no need to desire anything that you do not already have. Stop reinforcing your own ego and live for others instead of yourself. Give up your selfish will and obey the will of God. Let go of your desire, your pain, your suffering. See through the illusion — there is no reason to be anything other than hard-working, humble, and loving. In letting go of your desires, dreams and goals, you will find peace. In looking beyond yourself, you will find contentment. In obeying God’s will, you will find true happiness.
These two completely different ways of approaching life share a common theme. Be active in your life. Be a participant. Be concerned about the direction you are headed. Be aware of those around you. Have something to live for. Live your life with purpose. Live with meaning and give it your best. Don’t hold back. Once you know, you must decide. Once you decide, you must go. So go with everything you’ve got and be a part of this wonderful, mysterious, tragic thing they call life.
#1 • Tiny • April 21, 2009 at 5:50 pm
It is becoming a sick sad world for sure, I just hope the people running the show can turn it around and make everything better again!