A few weeks ago before this whole crisis hit the world I found myself walking around a bookstore when a book with an interesting title caught my eye.
It was called “Everything Is F*cked” by Mark Manson.
I chuckled as I picked up the book to see what it was about.
The first chapter, titled “An Uncomfortable Truth”, was actually quite good.
In it, Manson brings up how in spite of stats and figures all pointing to the fact that we are living in the greatest & safest era of human history—there are more cases of depression, anxiety, suicide, and just general unhappiness than ever before.
(In the Western world at least.)
All of this is happening, Manson argues, because the cost of all this progress, technology, and abundance is that we all must now face the “uncomfortable truth” about life.
His definition of the uncomfortable truth being…
“One day, you and everyone you love will die. And beyond a small group of people for an extremely brief period of time, little of what you say or do will ever matter.”
The uncomfortable truth being that the universe does not care about you.
The world does not care about you.
And that there is no grand purpose or reason for any of us.
We’re all here, we live, and we die, and that’s that.
And most people, when faced with this uncomfortable truth of the potential meaninglessness of human existence, it makes them go a little (or very) crazy.
But I disagree.
I see the uncomfortable truth not as a burden to weigh you down…
I see the uncomfortable truth as the greatest gift that God has ever given us.
Your life is ENTIRELY your own.
- Who you are
- What you do
- Where you go
All of these things are up to you.
You get to choose what has meaning and what doesn’t have meaning.
You get to choose the life you live, the person you become, the path that you follow.
You Get To Create Your Own Life’s Purpose.
And that’s a beautiful thing, not a terrible thing.
Sure, it would be easier if it was 100 years ago when you were told who you were going to be and what you were going to do.
- If you were born on a farm, you were going to be a farmer
- If your dad was a restaurant owner, you were going to run a restaurant
- If your government forced you into military service, you were going to be a solider
And so on and so forth.
Life is a whole lot easier when you don’t have to think for yourself.
When you can just follow a path that has already been laid out in front of you.
But that doesn’t exist anymore.
Now it’s up to us.
All of us.
We all have the power and the choice to make something great out of our lives or do nothing with our lives.
The people who recognize this new fact about life and capitalize on it, they’re the ones who are going to succeed.
The ones who don’t or actively fight against it, they’re going to get left in the dust.
You don’t want to get left in the dust, do you?
So it’s time to start taking your life into your own hands.
Most people have A LOT of time on their hands right now.
And the #1 comment I keep hearing over and over and over is how BORED people are.
Yes, many of us are stuck inside.
Yes, there is a crazy crisis going on that we have literally no control over…
But this is the perfect moment when you get to consciously make a choice about who you are and what you want to do in your life.
Many, many, many people will waste these 2 or 3 weeks at home watching Netflix, playing video games, or endlessly scrolling on social meda.
What if you decided that NOW was the time when you were going to re-evaluate your life and instead of complaining about things—you started taking active steps towards building the life you want to live.
- Is there something you always wanted to learn how to do but never could find the time?
Now’s the time.
- Did you always want to get your health on track and start exercising but always put it off?
Now’s the time.
- Are you always looking for a way out of your job, a way where you can start making money for yourself?
Now’s the time.
You are being given a wonderful opportunity to choose your own path forward in life right now.
That cozy, safe, bubble of a world that we lived in until only a few short weeks ago has been destroyed.
The Coronavirus is here and it is rampaging through our society faster and stronger than we ever could have imagined.
We are living in a period of uncertainty where everyone is scared and the status-quo has been flipped upside down.
Nearly everything that took up all of your mental space and time before has been put on hold.
The excuses have vanished.
Now’s the time.
All you need to remember is the simple uncomfortable truth about life…
Your life is up to YOU.
So let’s make the most of it.
With love,
Steve