"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOO HOO what a ride!"
Well, it has a point. Life should include pleasure. Those who expect life to be a dour struggle with death as the only reward, well they'll get what they expect. We all get what we expect, no more, no less.But I like to think that a sour struggle or a hedonistic, pointless party are not the only two choices we have. They are not even very good ones.
How about not getting your joy mainly via your mouth and alcohol and candy, but also getting it from accomplishments? From achieving something only you can do? From putting something in the world that would not have been there if you had not existed? Like a child. Or a book you wrote. Or paintings. Or a company. Or an invention. Or just a record of doing excellent work and friends who think of you with a smile.
i agree with you on expanding the options on how to do the journey! it's not in my nature to dwell in either a "devil my care" or "plan everything through" way. the best parts in life for me come when i have a balance between the two and throw in 5 or 10 more attitudes to boot! nice post!
ReplyDeleteYour post really hits the nail on the head. I come from a Christian perspective, where we so often err on the side of being sour and prudish. One of my favorite quotes comes from C. S. Lewis in "The Weight of Glory":
ReplyDeleteIndeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like and ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.
With my central purpose in life, and with the discipline to serve it with grace, the wonderful and myriad pleasures of my body need not be indulged; daily, can they be enjoyed to the fullest. I live for my pleasure and my purpose, always with the expectation that they will last ... forever.
ReplyDelete