You need to love living.
…and most people don’t figure out how to love living.
I myself have struggled to find a way to love the state of being alive.
During Covid I came across an Indian guru called Sadhguru… in one of his talks he spoke about 3 types of people: fools, smart and genius. The fools wake up in the morning and they hate what they have to do that day. The smart people have found a way to wake up each morning and like what they have to do that day. The genius learns to love what they have to do.
“The Genius learns to love what they have to do” Sadhguru
A week ago a student shared a powerful story with our class. Several years before he was going through a difficult period in his life and he had become angry and frustrated with the world. A mentor of his took him out for a walk. The walk ended inside a cemetery. His mentor said to him “look around you. Every single person here would give everything they have for one single problem of yours”.
Problems are a sign that you are still alive. I am learning slowly to love problems. Problems are not annoyances that get in the way of life. Problems are the molecules of life.
There is a book seen often in airport bookshops – “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k” by Mark Manson. I avoided reading it for many years (I claim because of the title, but most probably because I was jealous of the success of the author!). 2 years ago my wife told me that it was worth reading.
The first 2 lines of the book read something like this:
- You cannot choose not not give a f**k.
- The secret to living well is to focus your f**ks on something truly important.
“What’s so important in your life that you’re willing to be ridiculed for it?”
Mark Manson, author of The Subtle art of not giving a F**k
You can’t switch off caring. The secret to life is to find something worth to caring deeply about. If you don’t find something big and meaningful to care about, then every small irritation will drive you nuts.
I was asked many years ago by my wife’s niece “what is the most important lesson you have ever learnt in life”. (I answered the question as a youtube video here).