Eat drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.
This attitude is not new. The part that is new is the idea that living means having material objects or using as much up as possible.
I am younger than the boomers and I have always found the most satisfying feeling in mastering a skill and not necessarily having a bunch of stuff.
The most alive I have ever felt didn't cost me anything.
The boomers have been brainwashed into thinking that if they aren't consuming like a madman than they aren't living or aren't as good as the next boomer............it is pathetic really.
Having said that I can't help but agree with your observation as to how this selfish generation is going to race to the bottom.
porge, you said "The most alive I have ever felt didn't cost me anything."
May I please ask, what were you doing? I am being absolutely serious here, I would really like to know. I have heard the statement you made all my life, but then the person would never say what they were doing that made them feel so alive, what you can now get for free in this life (?) I love to read...and have found out that books can be very expensive...I love to socialize and flirt with women socially...but that doesn't work well if you don't have the clothes, can't afford decent restuarants, etc. I love to travel...but that is VERY expensive! Of course one must be at a certain level of financial status in this nation to even mate! George Orwell said in his book "Down and Out In London and Paris" that the saddest thing about the homeless poor men in the cities was the sure knowledge that they had no possibility of access to female companionship.
So please help out on this, it has been a question I have had for years!
Ok....you got me. Basically almost everything costs money or on the case of women the show of money (fitness).
But I will say that one of the best things anyone can do is get in the best physical shape possible. That endeavor doesn't have to costs anything and it is very rewarding both physically and psychologically. I think that the classical Greeks had it figured out. They advocated both a healthy mind and body and indeed felt that one could not be fully developed without the other. I don't know where you are located but here in the States there are many groups both formal and informal that exists for mutual support and encouragement of physical fitness.
You can even start with walking and see how far up the vigor scale you can move.
Anyway, I don't think that life can be experienced to the fullest if one is in poor physical condition and this attitude should be a priority for any person.
Oh yes, I was referring to female companionship.
ANother thing that kind of goes along with the above idea is to take up cooking to both improve health and learn a new skill. There are literally millions of ways of preparing food and the variety is endless. Many ethnic dishes are fabulous and not as difficult as you may think.
Maybe even impress the chicks that way? Or cook for a group of friends? Maybe they get into it as well and also start training with you for a triathlon?
Never know.
Do something healthy though.
Your right on the cooking, I do enjoy that a great deal...and creative to take fresh produce and some seasonings to turn into a real dish...a friend at work gave me some zuccinni (I can never spell that) the other day, and others asked me, "what the hell can you do with it?", so it is not a talent everyone has!
On fitness, I have felt after doing basic yoga, and want to delve further into that, so more advanced techniques...
My cheapest form of entertainment is libraries and bookstores (of course you have to get there), but I can spent the equal to a full work shift in a library and never noticed that much time has past! Bookstores are the same way, as long as you have the discipline not to buy anything...just browse, take notes and then follow out the leads on the web...music, there is my heaven, and as long as I am paying for internet access anyway, Youtube music has been a gift from heaven! Interesting to think about, if we could help folks to develop ways to entertain themselves for free, but then where would the profit motive be for us? :-)
Eat drink and be merry because tomorrow we die.
This attitude is not new. The part that is new is the idea that living means having material objects or using as much up as possible.
I am younger than the boomers and I have always found the most satisfying feeling in mastering a skill and not necessarily having a bunch of stuff.
The most alive I have ever felt didn't cost me anything.
The boomers have been brainwashed into thinking that if they aren't consuming like a madman than they aren't living or aren't as good as the next boomer............it is pathetic really.
Having said that I can't help but agree with your observation as to how this selfish generation is going to race to the bottom.
porge, you said "The most alive I have ever felt didn't cost me anything."
May I please ask, what were you doing? I am being absolutely serious here, I would really like to know. I have heard the statement you made all my life, but then the person would never say what they were doing that made them feel so alive, what you can now get for free in this life (?) I love to read...and have found out that books can be very expensive...I love to socialize and flirt with women socially...but that doesn't work well if you don't have the clothes, can't afford decent restuarants, etc. I love to travel...but that is VERY expensive! Of course one must be at a certain level of financial status in this nation to even mate! George Orwell said in his book "Down and Out In London and Paris" that the saddest thing about the homeless poor men in the cities was the sure knowledge that they had no possibility of access to female companionship.
So please help out on this, it has been a question I have had for years!
RC
Ok....you got me. Basically almost everything costs money or on the case of women the show of money (fitness).
But I will say that one of the best things anyone can do is get in the best physical shape possible. That endeavor doesn't have to costs anything and it is very rewarding both physically and psychologically. I think that the classical Greeks had it figured out. They advocated both a healthy mind and body and indeed felt that one could not be fully developed without the other. I don't know where you are located but here in the States there are many groups both formal and informal that exists for mutual support and encouragement of physical fitness.
You can even start with walking and see how far up the vigor scale you can move.
Anyway, I don't think that life can be experienced to the fullest if one is in poor physical condition and this attitude should be a priority for any person.
Oh yes, I was referring to female companionship.
ANother thing that kind of goes along with the above idea is to take up cooking to both improve health and learn a new skill. There are literally millions of ways of preparing food and the variety is endless. Many ethnic dishes are fabulous and not as difficult as you may think.
Maybe even impress the chicks that way? Or cook for a group of friends? Maybe they get into it as well and also start training with you for a triathlon?
Never know.
Do something healthy though.
Your right on the cooking, I do enjoy that a great deal...and creative to take fresh produce and some seasonings to turn into a real dish...a friend at work gave me some zuccinni (I can never spell that) the other day, and others asked me, "what the hell can you do with it?", so it is not a talent everyone has!
On fitness, I have felt after doing basic yoga, and want to delve further into that, so more advanced techniques...
My cheapest form of entertainment is libraries and bookstores (of course you have to get there), but I can spent the equal to a full work shift in a library and never noticed that much time has past! Bookstores are the same way, as long as you have the discipline not to buy anything...just browse, take notes and then follow out the leads on the web...music, there is my heaven, and as long as I am paying for internet access anyway, Youtube music has been a gift from heaven! Interesting to think about, if we could help folks to develop ways to entertain themselves for free, but then where would the profit motive be for us? :-)
RC