What to do, what to do...?

Our existence in this world is linear. What happens tomorrow is a result of the choices we make today. We cannot tell with absolute certainty what the future has in store for us. We rely on our judgment, our experience, the experiences of other people, and most of all...our emotions. In fact, and probably to our detriment as well, we rely on our emotions more than any other tool we have in our disposal in assessing choices and making decisions, whether it be minor, such as what to eat for lunch, or something life changing, such as getting married or falling in love. This is probably our greatest foible....

In the course of our life, what we decide to do is more often than not dictated but what we think would bring happiness to us. Happiness, as an emotional response, triggers our brain to produce pleasure giving chemicals. (neurotransmitters?) These chemicals provide such a positive response on our psyche that after the psychological high has passed, we still continue to actively seek them out by making decisions that we believe would bring happiness to us. In essence, I guess you can say that we are drug addicts in some way. We (well most of us, at least) would probably not go as far as stick a needle into our veins, or smoke weed or any other narcotic, but we are indeed dependent on the pleasurable chemicals naturally released by our brains for our own sense of satisfaction and well being.

Going back, the vast majority of our decisions are made for the most part with the prediction that the logical course of events emanating from the said decision would bring us happiness. The reality is, sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. It’s actually hit or miss. Not everything works out the way we want it to be. Unfortunately, not all decisions we predict that will bring happiness to us are correct ones. And we live with the consequences of our mistakes. This brings us back to the linearity of our existence. We cannot turn back time, reverse mistakes we did in the past. We can only live with their consequences. Sometimes the consequences are minor, and sometimes they can have life long effects. It would be nice to be able to pick up from somewhere you left off in the past, just before the fork in the road occurs. Unfortunately, we all know that is not the case.

So what do we do now? None of us are perfect. We all have made bad calls at one time or another. But that should not be the end of the road for us. Emotions may be our folly, but we also have one attribute possessed by no other specie on the planet...and that is our superior adaptability. We as a specie have survived several thousand years of history...of wars, plagues, famine...we have gone to the deepest parts of the sea, climbed the highest mountains, walked on the moon, been to the hottest and coldest areas of the planet. No other specie can claim that.

So what does have to do with us ordinary people as we trudge through our...more often than not...unexceptional lives? I guess I just want to say that we should not be put down by the wrong calls that we make. If we make a mistake we can always try again. And if we don’t want to, we can always do something else. If it sounds too simple that’s because it is. Yet we...myself included...have often refused to let go of past events that we believe had held us back. No one can hold us back but ourselves. Living in the past does not get us anywhere, and for that matter, living too far in the future does not either. I guess the best compromise would be learn from the past, live life today, and plan for the future. Live life today. That has got to be the clincher. For what it's worth, just take the following into consideration:

1. If you feel you lived your life as you wanted it, with no wrong turns (lucky you) and are happy with what you have attained in life, try to help those who haven’t. Nothing specific, help as you see fit. Perhaps something as a simple as a few words of encouragement, or maybe sensible advice. They are always free to take it or not to take it as they see fit. You never know, the small things you can do for other people might just be what it takes to get them going;

2. If you haven’t lived your life as you wanted it (like myself), the game isn’t over until you say it’s over. If you do say it’s over, it’s probably already too late for you anyway. There are plenty more things to do in life. The possibilities are so vast, we have barely scratched the surface. In the course of following up on new directions that you have set for yourself, or once you finally get to where you want to go, try to help some people along the way (see number 1);

3. If you feel that as a result of some bad decisions you got stuck somewhere you’d rather not be in life, then GET YOURSELF OUT OF IT. Don’t pity yourself. If you must, have a good cry, then pick yourself up, and do what has to be done (most of the time, at the back of our minds we already know what that is). Ask for help if you need it. There are plenty of people in situations 1 and 2 who are willing to lend a helping hand. Bite the bullet and get on with your life. (see number 2);

4. If you feel that IT’S REALLY TOO LATE for you, you’re probably wrong. (see number 3) If in fact is IS too late, learn to accept the outcome. Once you have, it won’t be that bad anymore. And you can go to number 1.

In short, everything leads to number 1. We just have to patient at times. Life’s too short to be sad or miserable. Let’s do what we can for ourselves and others. Helping others can be a source of happiness in itself.

There are two types of problems. Solvable ones and unsolvable ones. Don’t worry about the solvable ones. They can be solved. Don’t worry about the unsolvable ones either. If they can’t be solved, then there’s no sense worrying about them at all.

"Life's a journey, not a destination."

P.S. To the people I was with this afternoon, sorry I lost my temper.