Land Of Opportunity
It's been a while since I ranted about anything but myself, and while left to my own devices just now I started thinking- always a bad thing. But considering it's half the point of this Blog, here goes...
Consider, just for a second, this planet. Consider the labyrinthine cities across the globe, the loglo of Tokyo and the street cafés of any European city. Consider the rolling plains of Africa, the frozen vistas of Siberia, the cloud-wreathed peaks of the Himalayas and the parched salt flats of the middle US. Consider the Sistine Chapel, the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. Consider the alien, uncharted depths of the oceans. Consider the surface of the Moon or Mars and the vastness of space beyond. Is it not humbling? Do you not, when you stop to think of these things, feel as if you are missing something? I don't think one can feel anything else. But what do the vast majority of the world do about it? Nothing.
That's right. On our very doorsteps are a thousand experiences we've never had, a hundred thousand sights we'll never see. Yet we, who could at any time turn around and open our eyes, do nothing. We sit, blinkered, in our own small world and follow paths that lead nowhere. Every day I see people who wake up, brush their teeth, work eight hours in a grey-painted office under the light of fluorescent tubes and computer monitors, acheiving nothing, then go home, eat bland food and watch soap operas until they fall asleep and repeat the cycle. We live in an anthill at the peak of a mountain and yet we never once stop to appreciate the view as opposed to carrying biomass back to the hive.
Every one of us has a limited period of time on this planet, an insignificant fraction in the grand scheme, and we squander that time. We lead dull, sheltered, uninteresting lives doing jobs that serve no greater purpose and we take no time to appreciate the world around us that we'll never get a chance to again. Every moment we have is precious, and we should be using it to its fullest so that, when our time is finally up, we can say to ourselves that the time we had was well-spent. I don't want to be a sheep that spends my life punching data into a machine and see nothing but the metaphorical shadow-plays on the cave-wall- I want to turn around and look out of the cave.
In short, life is a collection of opportunities, each of which is only offered to us once. Each time we ignore one, for whatever reason, we won't get that chance again. Opportunities are to be seized, not seen, recognised, agonised over and then ignored and forgotten in favour of the status quo. So I give all readers of this Blog a challenge: Seize an opportunity today, whetever it may be, because if you can seize one, maybe the others, the more life-changing ones are also within your grasp.
Consider, just for a second, this planet. Consider the labyrinthine cities across the globe, the loglo of Tokyo and the street cafés of any European city. Consider the rolling plains of Africa, the frozen vistas of Siberia, the cloud-wreathed peaks of the Himalayas and the parched salt flats of the middle US. Consider the Sistine Chapel, the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids of Egypt. Consider the alien, uncharted depths of the oceans. Consider the surface of the Moon or Mars and the vastness of space beyond. Is it not humbling? Do you not, when you stop to think of these things, feel as if you are missing something? I don't think one can feel anything else. But what do the vast majority of the world do about it? Nothing.
That's right. On our very doorsteps are a thousand experiences we've never had, a hundred thousand sights we'll never see. Yet we, who could at any time turn around and open our eyes, do nothing. We sit, blinkered, in our own small world and follow paths that lead nowhere. Every day I see people who wake up, brush their teeth, work eight hours in a grey-painted office under the light of fluorescent tubes and computer monitors, acheiving nothing, then go home, eat bland food and watch soap operas until they fall asleep and repeat the cycle. We live in an anthill at the peak of a mountain and yet we never once stop to appreciate the view as opposed to carrying biomass back to the hive.
Every one of us has a limited period of time on this planet, an insignificant fraction in the grand scheme, and we squander that time. We lead dull, sheltered, uninteresting lives doing jobs that serve no greater purpose and we take no time to appreciate the world around us that we'll never get a chance to again. Every moment we have is precious, and we should be using it to its fullest so that, when our time is finally up, we can say to ourselves that the time we had was well-spent. I don't want to be a sheep that spends my life punching data into a machine and see nothing but the metaphorical shadow-plays on the cave-wall- I want to turn around and look out of the cave.
In short, life is a collection of opportunities, each of which is only offered to us once. Each time we ignore one, for whatever reason, we won't get that chance again. Opportunities are to be seized, not seen, recognised, agonised over and then ignored and forgotten in favour of the status quo. So I give all readers of this Blog a challenge: Seize an opportunity today, whetever it may be, because if you can seize one, maybe the others, the more life-changing ones are also within your grasp.
posted by Union Jackal at 12:54 am
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