Isn’t it? I feel so. I have always felt so. What am I doing? Right now I am studying for my higher exams which will ensure a stable and secure life ahead. You feel thats very good for me?
Well, I have been doing this all my life, and so are you. I passed out school with flying colours , and I felt a protective shield around me. I was someone great. Then I move to college, and I found that I had life ahead to think about. And the shield just disappeared. I passed out college, then graduation, and got caught in this endless loop of struggle for better existence on this planet. No job. So further studies. Which landed me a job at sea. But I was not satisfied with this arrangements for my future. So I cleared some higher exams which secured me a higher post at work. But still I didn’t feel that I would be happy enough with life at sea. And at some point during this time I saw the film,”The Gods must be crazy I“. And I realised that in a quest to make life easier, man has made his own life more and more difficult. To find simplicity in life, I left a very good paying sea job and joined on land.
And now I see how easy it can be to have better life when you downgrade your expectations.
In an attempt to make our life easier, we have somehow managed to harness ourselves to all the difficulties which we could create for ourselves. Its always exams, deadlines, places to reach, people to meet.We are never satisfied with what we own, may be not for greed, but because of that secure feeling that each one of us want for ourselves and our families. In our race towards a better tomorrow, we have messed up our today. That better tomorrow is at the horizon. But it always stays at horizon. Because we live in today, not in tomorrow. And we mess it up too.
So why not try and live better today, and think less about tomorrow? Hold yourselves back at a point. Draw a line for your requirements. Forget about pleasing others for some time, and please yourself.
After all you can live by earning only what you need. And just a bit more…
P.S. : Personally, I always dream of a peaceful life, far away from the city, with bare necessities at disposal. In the laps of nature. But that would be like swimming against the current. And the current is too strong.
I too have seen the film. And toyed with a similar idea, only to find it impossible. You see, I am pretty materialistic. But if you have the guts to do such a thing, best of luck to you!
“that would be like swimming against the current. And the current is too strong.”
hahahah….
May be this is too deep for me to understand..but i guess thats how i would like to live my life..keep it all messed up..live for today..but at the same time,keep looking at the horizon..coz thats what keeps me happy today..struggle,meeting deadlines, wishing for all the mundane luxuries and yes..to be on the Top..and yes for that too, you do need to “swimming against the current”!
Wow ,,so dreaming of living a peaceful life with just all the necessities required is also swimming against the current and as nitin says — taking part in the rat race and keeping on top — is also swimming against the tide or the current ,,, 🙁 so that does that mean LIFe is an endless struggle ??? depressing thought that !!!!!
On a similar note I just found a blog on a shipping website which shares kinda similar comments about what it takes o live life in a non metro city with just the essentials . This is written from the point of view of a shippy .
Am reproducing it here verbatim .. with acknowledgements to Jahajee
” Yesterday I was just talking with my friends how the prices are rising exorbitantly .One said the cost of living is going up while other said the Standard of living is going up !!!Well ,as always confused ,I quitely came back home and just for fun discussed the same with my parents as to how much will it cost me to stay in a town (not metros) with just my family of 4 people per month.Interestingly here it goes:
Gas Cylinder: 310
Electricity: 1000
Milk: 2000
Clothes(Cleaning/Ironing): 200
Tea: 300
Cooking Oil: 500
Rice: 250
Daal: 350
Wheat: 550
Vegetables: 1000
Snax: 500
Fruits: 300
Mobile+telephone: 2000
Medical expenses: 1000
Servant: 800
Cable TV: 200
Entertainment: 2000
Petrol: 1500
=====================================
TOTAL: 14760
Ok so 14760 Rs/Month in this of course some are too exaggerated and some may be too less but thats approx my STANDARD of “CONTENT” living .Ever wondered whats yours??? Actually I used it to calculate that
1.If I sail for 1 contract then how long can I stay ashore till I exhaust the saving and
2.To survive in a town how much should I earn/month.
Ofcourse it cannot be fixed and their are emergencies,Customs/Rituals,House rent and plenty more to add in this never ending list and it covers only the basic survival things which amazingly also includes Mobile, a must have in everyones life :-).I have not added here my few habits of India tour, Playstations, Internet, and lot of other social habits as I was only calculating the Basic survival needs .
I also remembered one video on Youtube( I saw it in my friends Orkut profile) about ” What will you do with 500Rs “..a must see …as for guys like us it was “Nothing can be done with such little amount” while there were kids in that video who said that they will complete their education,will eat 3 times daily and that they can send their little brother/sister to school…. Its strange someone is earning lakhs and lakhs and still cannot survive while some earn few hundreds and surviving happily !!!….
So where do u live and whats your standard of Living ??? “