View Full Version : How to Not Waste Your Life?
JuniperWoolf
02-06-2010, 07:25 PM
I could blah blah blah an explanation, but I think that Seinfeld could do an oh-so-better job:
Elaine: You know, funerals always make me think about my own mortality and how I'm actually going to die someday. Me, dead. Imagine that.
George: They always make me take stock of my life and how I've pretty much wasted all of it, and how I plan to continue wasting it.
Jerry: I know, and then you say to yourself, "From this moment on, I'm not going to waste any more of it." But then you go, "How? What can I do that's not wasting it?"
Elaine: Is this a waste of time? What should we be doing? Can't you have coffee with people?
What do you think?
DanielBenoit
02-06-2010, 08:28 PM
Lol, Seinfeld is known for being a show about nothing. That's because they spend most of their time talking about what they're talking about or doing. The best television show of the nineties.
Okay, now to your question. I guess it is better if we tend to not over-analyze stuff and just relax and enjoy life. And yet, as Socrates said "the unexamined life is not worth living". We need to somehow find a middle-ground. To somehow be disconnected from the possibility of nihilistic despair, and yet be able to look into the abyss.
The Comedian
02-06-2010, 11:26 PM
I don't want to sound dismissive about this question. . . . but, the way to not waste your life is to find a purpose or two or three or four or five. And they're everywhere. Purposes.
Maybe it's frogs. Maybe it's your family. Maybe it's global warming. Maybe it's cheeseburgers.
The nice thing about purposes is that you can have as many as you want and the other purposes won't get jealous at all. And if you leave one for another -- no hard feelings, bro.
Uncle Comedian says that "people spend too much time and energy waiting for purpose to come to them when, really, there are a thousand purposes waiting for someone to take them up". All we have to do is pick one up and take it home with us. Cute little purposes.
Philosopher Comedian says this: "the more you can not think about yourself, or better yet, not live for yourself, the closer you'll be to not wastin' your life". It sounds cliche and maybe even trite. But living for yourself, sayest I, is a bit of a waste. :)
Basil
02-07-2010, 12:12 AM
My philosophy of life is very similar to the Comedian's. If you want to know it, just reread his post, but every time it says purpose, replace it with the word porpoise.
They're everywhere. Porpoises.
The Comedian
02-07-2010, 12:24 AM
My philosophy of life is very similar to the Comedian's. If you want to know it, just reread his post, but every time it says purpose, replace it with the word porpoise.
They're everywhere. Porpoises.
What about in the woods? I don't see any here. ;)
Basil
02-07-2010, 12:35 AM
What about in the woods? I don't see any here. ;)
I was using porpoise metaphorically. I'm sorry, I should have made that clear. ;)
DanielBenoit
02-07-2010, 01:01 AM
Uncle Comedian says that "people spend too much time and energy waiting for purpose to come to them when, really, there are a thousand purposes waiting for someone to take them up". All we have to do is pick one up and take it home with us. Cute little purposes.
Philosopher Comedian says this: "the more you can not think about yourself, or better yet, not live for yourself, the closer you'll be to not wastin' your life". It sounds cliche and maybe even trite. But living for yourself, sayest I, is a bit of a waste. :)
I like this. The highest most transcendently beautiful moments of life I have experienced in helping others, and thus I continue to practice compassion. Is that meta-ethically selfish? Yeah. But at least I am able to fulfill myself and others.
I think people sometimes mistake meaning with purpose (as I have in my vocabulary). I think purpose is virtually synominous to vocation. One can have a meaningless passion for cheeseburgers. But at least that brings purpose and fulfillment to that persons life. Meaning I think is a construction of our Platonic and ontological biases. Purpose is more pragmatic and meaningful to life (if you don't mind my irony :p ).
(Btw, of all the writers on here, you're my favorite Comedian ;) )
JuniperWoolf
02-08-2010, 05:16 AM
My philosophy of life is very similar to the Comedian's. If you want to know it, just reread his post, but every time it says purpose, replace it with the word porpoise.
They're everywhere. Porpoises.
:lol: I read this post before The Comedian's, so I couldn't absorb his wisdom without replacing the word "purpose" with "porpoise" and giggling like an idiot.
Paulclem
02-09-2010, 03:09 AM
I don't want to sound dismissive about this question. . . . but, the way to not waste your life is to find a purpose or two or three or four or five. And they're everywhere. Purposes.
Maybe it's frogs. Maybe it's your family. Maybe it's global warming. Maybe it's cheeseburgers.
The nice thing about purposes is that you can have as many as you want and the other purposes won't get jealous at all. And if you leave one for another -- no hard feelings, bro.
Uncle Comedian says that "people spend too much time and energy waiting for purpose to come to them when, really, there are a thousand purposes waiting for someone to take them up". All we have to do is pick one up and take it home with us. Cute little purposes.
Philosopher Comedian says this: "the more you can not think about yourself, or better yet, not live for yourself, the closer you'll be to not wastin' your life". It sounds cliche and maybe even trite. But living for yourself, sayest I, is a bit of a waste. :)
A great post:thumbs_up
1n50mn14
02-09-2010, 08:26 AM
It's entirely up to you whether or not you are wasting your life. If you are unhappy and feel unaccomplished, then you're wasting your time. Some people with doctorates and degrees and great jobs are wasting their lives, entirely- not in the conventional view of 'success', but in their own hearts.
You will never be wasting your life if you pursue your passions.
Shalot
02-09-2010, 08:40 AM
It's entirely up to you whether or not you are wasting your life. If you are unhappy and feel unaccomplished, then you're wasting your time. Some people with doctorates and degrees and great jobs are wasting their lives, entirely- not in the conventional view of 'success', but in their own hearts.
You will never be wasting your life if you pursue your passions.
Well said. Now, if I only had the balls to pursue my passions. :)
applepie
02-09-2010, 09:27 AM
It's entirely up to you whether or not you are wasting your life. If you are unhappy and feel unaccomplished, then you're wasting your time. Some people with doctorates and degrees and great jobs are wasting their lives, entirely- not in the conventional view of 'success', but in their own hearts.
You will never be wasting your life if you pursue your passions.
Very well said Becca. Both you and Comedian have really hit it on the nail with your posts.
I think that one would really have to do absolutely nothing for their life to be a waste. If you're not meeting your own needs and goals, and you're not giving back to others... then maybe you could be wasting your life. I think it almost takes a conscious effort to do such a thing though. To go through your entire life and never help another or yourself :skep: I don't really think it is too likely for that to happen. You would have to work very very hard at not helping someone.
I think, therefor I am
There is no such thing as a wasted life. Every life is unique, to say one wastes his life doing X and another not by doing Y is completely moot. You can not validate a life simply by saying they have this hobby or that, or did this job with their life, or were the president of the world instead of a bum.
You cannot put value on the human soul and spirit. A single act of kindness resulting in a chain of events which causes a positive action for another to me would make that life not wasted. And thats the sum of the problem, value is unique to the assessor, and therefor impossible to come to any consistant outcome.
Paulclem
02-15-2010, 07:37 AM
I think, therefor I am
There is no such thing as a wasted life. Every life is unique, to say one wastes his life doing X and another not by doing Y is completely moot. You can not validate a life simply by saying they have this hobby or that, or did this job with their life, or were the president of the world instead of a bum.
You cannot put value on the human soul and spirit. A single act of kindness resulting in a chain of events which causes a positive action for another to me would make that life not wasted. And thats the sum of the problem, value is unique to the assessor, and therefor impossible to come to any consistant outcome.
I can think of wasted lives without too much effort, sadly.
Wasted lives as you see it. To me those lives may not be perceived as wasted at all.
Who are we to judge the value of a life? Just because we deem it wasted/not, does not in fact mean it is so.
Metaphysics, do it.
Paulclem
02-16-2010, 06:52 PM
Wasted lives as you see it. To me those lives may not be perceived as wasted at all.
Who are we to judge the value of a life? Just because we deem it wasted/not, does not in fact mean it is so.
Metaphysics, do it.
No mate. Lives wasted and regretted by the person themselves even if they plough on. You don't have to judge people to see what they see themselves.
And what about the lives wasted in confllicts - soldiers, civillians
And accidents and murders
There's no judgement there, just the feeling that whatever they have done up to that point, the rest of their life is wasted by people and circumstances.
Even if the person feels he has wasted his life, it doesnt neccisarily make it true. Maybe one day he did something as mundane as picking up a piece of litter. Unbeknownst to him someone saw this and was inspired, and devoted their entire life to recycling and the environment. He may have been the most important part of changing the way the world thinks about preservation and not even known it.
Wasted in conflict? Again, a matter of oppinion. Some would say that fighting for your country and freedom is anything but wasted. Others will say it is a massive waste.
It is impossible to put value on the human condition I am sorry but if u believe you or anyone else can you are simply wrong. You may disagree, which proves my point.
Paulclem
02-17-2010, 05:36 AM
Even if the person feels he has wasted his life, it doesnt neccisarily make it true. Maybe one day he did something as mundane as picking up a piece of litter. Unbeknownst to him someone saw this and was inspired, and devoted their entire life to recycling and the environment. He may have been the most important part of changing the way the world thinks about preservation and not even known it.
Wasted in conflict? Again, a matter of oppinion. Some would say that fighting for your country and freedom is anything but wasted. Others will say it is a massive waste.
It is impossible to put value on the human condition I am sorry but if u believe you or anyone else can you are simply wrong. You may disagree, which proves my point.
It's clear that more can be achieved by some people who die young, are killed in accidents or die prematurely due to self inflicted causes. It's is more about what has been missed rather than what has been done already. It was in this sense, rather than a judgemental sense, that I referred to wasted lives.
As for dying in conflict, yes it is a matter of opinion, but civilians?
But by civilians dyin, it could lead to the end of the war, or an uprising, or something of worth to someone. I personally think its tragic and horrible, but im not the be all and end all to judge.
So you see waste value not by what it has/was/is, but what it doesnt have?? thats a pretty flawed logic. I could understand the point if the topic was "how not to live with regret" but that isnt the case.
Paulclem
02-20-2010, 12:28 PM
But by civilians dyin, it could lead to the end of the war, or an uprising, or something of worth to someone. I personally think its tragic and horrible, but im not the be all and end all to judge.
So you see waste value not by what it has/was/is, but what it doesnt have?? thats a pretty flawed logic. I could understand the point if the topic was "how not to live with regret" but that isnt the case.
I don't agree with the flawed logic. It's the potential that has been wasted. What a person has/ done/ is etc. is one thing, the potential a person has is what I'm talking about. Some of the biggest wastes is by people who have had the greatest opportunities. Imagine accumulating a fortune with a talent and then succumbing to drugs or alcohol. All the potential for creativity, good works and personal fulfilment wasted.
What about political leaders like Stalin and Mao who wasted their potential and were personally responsible for the deaths of millions of their own people?
Lacra
02-20-2010, 12:29 PM
Wasted lives as you see it. To me those lives may not be perceived as wasted at all.
Who are we to judge the value of a life? Just because we deem it wasted/not, does not in fact mean it is so.
Metaphysics, do it.
I do agree with you, Nax. We are outsiders for the other human beings, so we are unable to judge their lives if they are wasted or not. Because of different criterias and achievement plans we have. In change, I can judge in a personal manner my own life. As an example: my daily experience on Lit net. My friend X will say that posting on this forum and interacting with the people here is a waste of time. I will answer back that for me this is a gaining experience which saves me from the spiritual limitation. And so on...
Paulclem
02-20-2010, 12:34 PM
I do agree with you, Nax. We are outsiders for the other human beings, so we are unable to judge their lives if they are wasted or not. Because of different criterias and achievement plans we have. In change, I can judge in a personal manner my own life. As an example: my daily experience on Lit net. My friend X will say that posting on this forum and interacting with the people here is a waste of time. I will answer back that for me this is a gaining experience which saves me from the spiritual limitation. And so on...
I agree that you can't judge person accurately too. But what about the wasted potential?
Lacra
02-20-2010, 12:49 PM
I agree that you can't judge person accurately too. But what about the wasted potential?
Yes, I didn't take into consideration "wasted potential". This sounds complicated. I know we have the moral duty to develop and use at maximum this potential but what if the circumstances don't help me? X has great potential to become a great singer but he lives in a village forgotten by the world. Can we judge him that he wasted his life? Is this his fault or external objective cause?
True, there are people who wasted everything in their life, but again I still can't dare to expose them to my vulnerable judgment.
Paulclem
02-20-2010, 01:28 PM
Yes, I didn't take into consideration "wasted potential". This sounds complicated. I know we have the moral duty to develop and use at maximum this potential but what if the circumstances don't help me? X has great potential to become a great singer but he lives in a village forgotten by the world. Can we judge him that he wasted his life? Is this his fault or external objective cause?
True, there are people who wasted everything in their life, but again I still can't dare to expose them to my vulnerable judgment.
There are provisos on such judgements I agree.I wouldn't make them either. When people die young, or sooner than they should have, then it is a waste. The worst case is where the person makes choices which hasten their deaths unnecessarily.
Lacra
02-20-2010, 05:14 PM
There are provisos on such judgements I agree.I wouldn't make them either. When people die young, or sooner than they should have, then it is a waste. The worst case is where the person makes choices which hasten their deaths unnecessarily.
Yes, you're right, Paul. Life is made up of choices. Unfortunately, some people decide in a wrong way for their life. :(
Scheherazade
02-20-2010, 06:35 PM
Of course, the question remains whether carrying on endless discussions on how not to waste one's life is a waste or not...
:p
Lacra
02-20-2010, 06:46 PM
Of course, the question remains whether carrying on endless discussions on how not to waste one's life is a waste or not...
:p
The question remains because there are not two identical human beings on the earth. Wasting your time life has personal criterias. The definition of waste is not absolute, has multiple faces, many different realities. It's a "perpetuum metamorphosa".
Scheherazade
02-20-2010, 06:50 PM
The question remains because there are not two identical human beings on the earth. Wasting your time life has personal criterias. The definition of waste is not absolute, has multiple faces, many different realities. It's a "perpetuum metamorphosa".Dude...
:rolleyes:
Paulclem
02-20-2010, 08:15 PM
Of course, the question remains whether carrying on endless discussions on how not to waste one's life is a waste or not...
:p
:lol:
Well I'm wasted...
JuniperWoolf
02-21-2010, 06:35 PM
Dude...
:rolleyes:
Ahahahaha, that is exactly how I would have responded.
Scheherazade
02-21-2010, 06:48 PM
Ahahahaha, that is exactly how I would have responded.Well, they do say fools seldom differ!
:goof:
Lacra
02-23-2010, 10:38 AM
Dude...
:rolleyes:
Well, excuse me, but I thought that the discussion was serious ( mea culpa ). I am not familiar with "dude". .. don't know the accurate meaning ( if it does exist ). But I am still able to understand that my answer was funny.
TheRoyalist
03-21-2010, 06:35 AM
To misquote George Best (a footballer, not a writer, sorry).
"I spent all my money on booze and women. At least I didn't waste it."
Love Seinfeld, BTW. This post should be renamed "This thread is about...nothing."
blazeofglory
04-17-2010, 12:35 PM
I never think my life is wasted. Whatever I do is a perfect thing and I do with my conscience
Scheherazade
09-14-2010, 09:53 AM
The OP:
I could blah blah blah an explanation, but I think that Seinfeld could do an oh-so-better job:
Elaine: You know, funerals always make me think about my own mortality and how I'm actually going to die someday. Me, dead. Imagine that.
George: They always make me take stock of my life and how I've pretty much wasted all of it, and how I plan to continue wasting it.
Jerry: I know, and then you say to yourself, "From this moment on, I'm not going to waste any more of it." But then you go, "How? What can I do that's not wasting it?"
Elaine: Is this a waste of time? What should we be doing? Can't you have coffee with people?
What do you think?
Propter W.
09-14-2010, 11:03 AM
I haven't wasted a minute of my life and I'm sure I never will.
Kyriakos
09-14-2010, 12:41 PM
To forever expand one's thoughts and to feel happy is, i think, the sure way to not waste life :)
altheskeptic
09-14-2010, 09:14 PM
I tried reading while driving, so as not to waste time.
It didn't work out very well.
So I guess a person must waste a little time in life, and waste a little life through time.
I used to get high
A lot
Wasting my life smoking pot.
It didn't work out very well
But it sho was fun!
Serena03
09-14-2010, 10:29 PM
Is this a waste of time? Can you not chat with people about wasting your life?
Emil Miller
09-15-2010, 05:36 PM
Follow your inclinations even though they run contrary to political correctness. In other words, to thine own self be true.
Revolte
09-27-2010, 07:51 PM
Life is only wasted if it's not lived. If you spend your days focused on your nonconsensual obligations such as work, making babies, following moral codes that are not of your own, feeding the beast that holds you back, well then you have wasted your every breathe. If the smell of the mountain's air doesn't make you forget your own name, if the cool breeze against your freshly showered hair doesn't make you remember how to smile, if the morning fog doesn't heal your woes, then you have not lived and you have wasted. Misery is as common as the systems that create it, and those who fall into their trap and forget, forget, forget will do nothing BUT waste their lives. Turn off the television forget the petty pesky fights over why someone was late to this or that, stop reading even, and write, write your life, not in pen, but in blood and flesh, in love and fright, in bravery and desire, in dreams and tears.
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