Why Bother

I have written often about motivation, and having talked to many people, especially young people, who have so many ideas, but they never actually do anything. They are called ADD or lazy or not focused.

I have found the ultimate reason is the attitude of; ‘Why bother?’ ‘What is the point?’ ‘I am going to take all these risks, put in so much effort and spend my life and in the end I am just going to die and disappear, and I do not know when.’

This struck me very deeply as recently my dearest friend passed away at 54 just months after she purchased her dream home and brand new car that she never thought she could ever achieve having worked so hard all her life, coming from the slums of Malaysia, to retire early and then for what?

Stories like this make people say why bother because I may drop dead any time.  When we have great ideas but foresee a tremendous amount of effort and years required to build it, then we think or see examples of starving people, misery in the world, or rich people taking from the poor, people dropping dead at young ages even after living a good, honest, and often healthy life, or a recent news event of Walmart the largest retailer in the world just raised its US minimum wage to $9.00 per hour while the CEO makes well over $11,000 an hour plus benefits etc. this kills motivation.

Really, it is hard to give an answer to counteract this motivation killer other than, what else should you do? The point of life is not necessarily to succeed or achieve or leave a legacy, all we can do since we have no proof of what life is really about, this is of course the oldest question humanity has asked, why are we here, is to pass life in a way that is fun, and gives us some benefit.

It is like planning a trip around the world and stopping half or three quarters around, is not a failure, it is just part of a journey that was in itself a success in that you have passed your life in fun and adventure and felt that you have done something, simply for the sake of having done something while you are alive instead of wasted your time.

I am against suicide, for the simple reason that what if that is really a big mistake and it turns out the religions are right and we burn forever in hell or some sort of misery. Life is not that long, we may as well wait it out and do something while we are here.

You do not have to change the world, you do not need to do anything world changing, we just need to have some fun while we can, no point, no great aspirations, if you do not have any that is.

Take another attitude instead of calling yourself ADD or something like that, you just do not see the point, because of the fear of not being able to accomplish it, and even if you do, in the end you die and disappear and no one knows about you and what you built may just be sold off and forgotten, so what is the point.

The point is simply passing time in the most enjoyable way while you are alive, and maybe learning something to see what you can do to transform who you are, improving your skills and knowledge in any way, simply to see what can be done, and that is the point. Just to see what can be done with the person you are.

Maybe there is no ultimate purpose in life, or maybe there is, but one thing is guaranteed, you are not going to know for sure if there is or is not. But if you say you need a purpose in life that is grand, of course you are going to say what is the point, because you are asking a question that is impossible to answer.

There is no great solution to this dilemma, other than the acceptance that there is no point to life. Maybe it is true, you are born, live and die and it is over. Maybe there is something spiritual that continues, and lucky are those who have this faith and religious belief, but we have to deal with our life while we are alive. If you can devote yourself to spiritual cultivation, great, but you would not be reading this article if that applies to you.

We are talking to the people who are lost, and to you, I say the whole point of life is to keep busy, to do things. In that doing, without expectation or need of achieving anything great or of lasting value, but rather it is just for the fun of doing it as long as you are doing it.

With this attitude, maybe you will start something and see how it goes. Who knows, maybe you will like it and it gets to be a great way to pass time, and who knows, it may change the world in some way, even if it is just for one other person.