The rebel. The punk. The guy that doesn’t give a shit…
The smart, but lazy, guy that could make a good life for himself, if only he could get his damn shit together…
Those tropes seemed to be the definition of counter culture, where it was cool to bounce when it came to personal responsibility and just live a mostly apathetic, bohemian lifestyle.
But… has that lifestyle played itself out?
Has being a bum become mainstream? Is being a lazy ass losing its luster? I’m here to offer you a suggestion…
What if taking personal responsibility is the new act of rebellion? In a time when most people don’t care one way or another, is it truly an act of defiance to… actually give a shit?
We live in a world where it is EASY, and sometimes might even feel encouraged, to live a life of existential, hedonistic nihilism where nothing matters except for personal happiness and instant gratification.
It’s too easy to get sucked into the trap of dopamine addiction these days. Technology has made everything so convenient now that we expect an answer or reply or order confirmation within minutes. We have become so engrained and spoiled with this lifestyle, that it seems hard, or archaic, to value the virtue of patience.
“Patience is just for the dumb people that don’t know how to do things faster.“
-some random dude
Building something for the long term seems like a suckers play…
After all,
Didn’t we watch the last generation save up for retirement, just to have their 401K completely wiped out from underneath them right as they were about to retire?
Yeah, we’re not gonna get duped like they were.
But,
What if we found a way to take responsibility, find our values, and build a foundation of our life that we are proud of?
Would that be so difficult?
Would that be… gasp … worth it?
It’s easy to fall down the rabbit hole of life being meaningless. I’m sure no one would fault you for it, and you can find a ton of people online with confirmation bias to agree with you.
However,
What if in spite of that… we search for something more?
In spite of the pain and drudgery of life, we still find a way to make the best of it?
The journey for meaning or purpose may turn out to be way more fulfilling than we think. Getting up and doing something to change or improve our lives or maybe even the lives of others one task at a time might hold some intrinsic value that we might just be naively shrugging off because we can’t see an end goal.
But this journey requires action, and suffering.
If you are looking to end suffering, then by all means, do nothing. But I’m not so sure that is lifestyle is working very well either…
The value of personal responsibility is something that can’t be scientifically measured. And it’s not some overnight quick fix.
However, the inertia from the momentum of taking responsibility and action helps to build and train the muscle of resiliency.
And in continuing to train those skill sets, we become stronger and more confident.
Mistakes will happen, but to be doing and learning from mistakes is to be alive.
You are lucky to be in this world. You only have one life. Why not take some action and make the most of it?
Work or train until you’re tired. Until you expended all that pent up energy. See how you feel at the end of the day. Notice if those endorphins gave you a surprising jolt and a feeling of accomplishment that you’ve been missing in your life for a while.
Are you gonna wear out or rust out?
I choose to wear out.
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