A Moment of ClarityBy Cliff Lengkono ppt

A Moment of Clarity
By Cliff Lengkono
Copyright © 2012 by Cliff Lengkono.
Smashwords Edition
Cover art by Aubrey Watt
Cover photo © Jinyoung Lee | Dreamstime.com
Smashwords License Statement
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given
away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase
an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was
not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own
copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
For my grandmother,
Without whom this book could never happen and without whom it is missing something.
She is always and deeply missed.
Ignorance is bliss
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
PART ONE: SELF
Chapter 1 – Pilot
PART TWO: DATING
Chapter 2 – John Doe & Jane Doe
Chapter 3 – Reservation for Two
Chapter 4 – Fight or Flight
PART THREE: RELATIONSHIP
Chapter 5 – A Two-Way Street
Chapter 6 – Silence is Golden
Chapter 7 – Murphy’s Law

Chapter 8 – L
Chapter 9 – The Next Level
PART FOUR: MARRIAGE
Chapter 10 – Welcome
Chapter 11 – Life as We Know It
Chapter 12 – Sickness, Poorer, Worse
PART FIVE: PARENTHOOD
Chapter 13 – For the Love of Your Child
Chapter 14 – New Beginning
Chapter 15 – The Village
Chapter 16 – There Is More than One of Everything
PART SIX: FAREWELL
Chapter 17 – Again
Chapter 18 – A Pain in the Heart
Chapter 19 – The Hard Way
Chapter 20 – State of the Union
Chapter 21 – And Then There Were None
Chapter 22 – Everybody Dies
About the Author
Preface
The hardest part about writing a book intended for everyone is seeking, determining,
maintaining approaches, views, and solutions so general and basic that they can apply to as many
people as possible. There were lots of considerations involved and adjustments made to achieve
this particularly fundamental purpose. To my best and current judgment, the contents, tone,
direction, and spirit of this book have all been able to demonstrate the point that I was trying to
make, which is that there can be universally accepted ways for people to navigate their lives.
After all, we share this one planet, we experience scores of similar events, and we essentially
bear the same physical and mental characteristics. Each and every one of us is a human being.
This book is about life. It discusses parts of life that I observed many people go through. It
talks about the things that have mostly forgotten, ignored, or abandoned. It introduces new and

basic ideas on common topics and issues in life. It addresses numerous problems commonly
encountered in the lives of the majority of people. It explores various subjects with simplicity,
universality, practicality, and generality. The reason I chose not to write about a particular topic
is because it is my hope that this book can be relevant to a very wide range of audience. Whether
someone is a man or a woman, single or married, children or adults, young or old, gay or
straight, with or without children, I want him or her to be able to find at least one chapter in this
book that explores the part of life that they are currently dealing with. And to take it one step
further, I strived to make this book transcend the differences of generation, age, background,
culture, belief, and gender.
In the interest of full disclosure, I must make one important fact known, which is that I have
never been on a date, in a real and serious relationship, married, or had children. I also do not
have knowledge about, expertise in, or experience on, in
Self-help implies that you are the only one who can help yourself. Books and authors can
merely offer insights, give advice, share knowledge, teach lesson, and explain matters. They all
can be actually beneficial if you put the theories into practice. The most important element of
self-help books is always you, the reader.
PART ONE: SELF
CHAPTER 1
Pilot
The Common Things
What every human is born with and born into is precisely the same throughout the history of
humanity. People, body, mind, world, nature, time, needs, purpose and free will are the things
that each and every one of us received when we came into this world. Someone gets a father and
a mother as their birth parents that will protect, teach, and raise them. There may already be a
sibling or several that share many similar characteristics with them. They also have uncles, aunts,
and grandparents from both parents’ side that will act as second parents to them. In some cases,
it may not be parents but instead guardian or caregiver that a child will grow up with. Over time,
they will have encounters with many other people outside their own family and begin interacting
with them. They form relationships, develop bonds, and become familiar with those people’s
presence in their life. Others they just know briefly or observe from afar and by watching these

people’s lives they start constructing their own views of life and of the world. Moreover, as they
grow older, they come to a realization that they need at least someone else to give them
happiness, to share their burdens and sorrows, to fight for or with, to learn life from, to love and
to love them back, and to change their life.
Humans are also gifted with eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell, a tongue to taste, skin
to feel, hands to hold, arms to hug, legs to walk, a mouth to speak, lips to kiss, teeth to bite and
chew, and sexual organ to procreate. Other components of the body such as blood, heart, lungs,
kidney, and liver keep our body usable until they give up. Everyone also has minds to form
thoughts, to remember, to think, to store memories, to imagine, to solve problems, and to process
information collected by other elements of the body. The mind also has the capability of feeling
various types of emotions such as fear, anger, doubt, hope, grief, shame, regret, love, hatred,
despair, sympathy, empathy, guilt, disgust, worry, envy, disappointment, pride, curiosity,
happiness, misery, and so forth. Mortals also have time to live, time to die, time to sleep, time to
awake, past time to learn from, present time to live, and future time to prepare for.
All humans have basic needs that include food, shelter, clean water, clothes, health care,
safety, warmth, companionship, and sleep. And for all of those things a vast, immense, rich
world has been given to humans so a whole lot of them can live in it, see it, feel its magic and
power, protect it, and take care of it. Meanwhile, nature provides human beings with water to
quench their thirst and to wash their body, air to breathe in, fire to cook and to keep cold and
predators at bay, wind to move the sails and to cool the weather a bit, and rain to water the crops.
There is a sun to dry clothes and to grow plants, a moon to shine some light in the darkness of
nights, day to do some work in order to survive, night to rest, and plants and animals to satisfy a
hunger, to act as a means of transportation, and to take life lessons from.
Every person that ever lived, now lives, or will live has a purpose in this world and his or
her existence alone has changed history. They are a product of countless and different choices
and since their conception, they have been continuously altering the lives of other people, mainly
their own parents. Then they will move on to changing the life of every person that they will
have contact with and even the ones they will not because with their actions, they will set many
things in motion. Simultaneously, the choices of others will also have impacts on their own life.
Lastly but certainly not the least, a person also has free will to choose and decide what they wish

to do with his or her life in this world. Some things are the same and remain the same because
we are all the same.
The Unfairness of Life
It is likely that the oldest adage of all is the one that says that life is not fair. While people
get many similar things in life, the disparities are even more apparent and pivotal in determining
the sort of life that someone will lead and have. Predicaments, belongings, opportunities, and
advantages are the things that distinguish one life from the other. A child might be combating
hunger nearly every single day while half a world away another kid is crying over his or her
broken plaything. Someone can own multiple houses but others’ homes can barely make it
through the next rainstorm. There are people who have opportunities served on a platter and
there are the ones who need to keep searching for one. Being born in a wealthy family also gives
someone access to many benefits like reputable academic institutions while some people have to
try much longer and harder if they want to succeed. Some people understand, accept, and are
used to the fact that they cannot and will not ever have all or at least most of the things they
want. And there are some who are still learning and refusing the reality that no one gets
everything they desire.
People learn reality through different ways. Some might realize that terrible things do befall
good people and good things happen to bad people. Others could be asking why there is so much
pain and suffering in the world or wondering why not everyone can be equally happy or
miserable. A few might be attempting to comprehend the reason why certain individuals have
tons of money and such a cushy life without having to work hard. There are those who refuse to
accept the fact that good people have to die so soon while there are clearly so many bad people
who will continue inflicting pain and causing damage that deserve death more. It may be their
finding that everyone is much nicer to beautiful people and everything is easier to get for gifted
individuals. They may suddenly realize the harsh reality that some people are already luckier,
happier, and wealthier than others have ever been or ever will be in their lifetime. Knowing that
the world is not fair can easily cause people to feel indignant and sorry for themselves, it can
diminish their will to live and to fight for happiness, or make them realize that the best way to
win is to stop playing fair.
Everyone cannot be evenly and simultaneously happy because the rule and reality of life is

that it is every man for himself. In order to get what you want, most of the time you have no
choice except to sacrifice or defeat others. The world would and could be a much better place if
everybody was willing to care, give, share, and help but unfortunately, humans are predisposed
to take, contend, and ignore. And therein lies the underlying issue. Desire and survival are
instincts, whereas aiding is a choice.
Black, White, and Grey
Everyone wants to be good. Everyone started good. However, when push comes to shove,
the only choice is to be bad. It always started small. Ordinarily, people would go with lying.
They all hesitated at first because they were afraid of the consequences of what they were going
to do. Therefore, they tried to convince themselves that that was the only way, that it was just
going to be that one time, and that no one would get hurt. Seeing that it is harmless, it would not
take a long time and consideration before they finally did it. But then they had to deal with the
aftermath. They felt guilty, ashamed, and scared. They tried to shake it off by telling themselves
over and over that they had to do what they did. When that did not work, they tried to rationalize
it by saying that the ends justify the means. Eventually, they were able to get past it because they
continued to remain in the clear and nothing seemed to be going wrong.
Unfortunately, another situation later arose that forced them to do the same thing again as
doing the right thing would get them in a jam. They, however, knew that lying could make all
their problems go away. Assuming nothing bad happened in the first attempt, it would be much
easier for them the second time. They said to themselves that another lie would not really matter
and so they did it again. They felt the same way as before but now they knew that ultimately it
would disappear. Lying began to look like a highly useful skill to possess. It did not end there,
though. For students, the impulse to cheat can get as difficult to resist as the exams become.
They need to pass the test or get a great score so badly but they just cannot understand or master
the topic. Employees embezzle money because they can only scrape by on their regular wage.
Contenders realize that they need to get their hands dirty if they want to get ahead. Difficulties
compel people to take desperate measures in order to get out of them. Everyone who was ever in
difficult positions and circumstances realized that life is easier when you do bad things. It goes
without saying that that is an extremely dangerous philosophy to have.
Some people go through life with stronger willpower. They will not betray their principle

just to make things less complicated or problems go away. They strive to follow their moral code
and do the right thing every time for the reason that they want to be an honorable person and
they want their conscience to be clear. Sadly, life remains cruel to everyone including the honest
ones. The challenges of life will test and tempt them continuously and they will find that they
cannot avoid changes forever. Being in desperate times for far too long can change even the
strongest of people to consider turning to questionable measures. They will eventually come to a
realization that they need to adapt if they are to survive. They are tired of playing by the rules
because the rules have failed them and brought them nowhere and nothing but misery. They have
seen hundreds of people commit many heinous acts and get away with it. They want to be good
and stay good, but everybody wants to survive and nobody can always get what they want in life.
That is how righteous people turn evil and the number of honest people in this world grows ever
smaller.
Everyone knows that actions have repercussions, especially those who just perpetrated
something wicked. They are aware of the punishments that they would get if their transgressions
were uncovered. So, they have to make sure that no one can ever unearth their misdeeds and that
is why cover-ups are part of any wrongdoing. Moreover, since concealing the truth implies and
requires doing more bad things, the laundry list of the despicable acts that they have done just
keeps getting longer. They have to lie some more, steal again to pay off someone, threaten and or
harm someone who wants to blow the whistle on them, or frame someone to take the fall for
their actions. They will stop at nothing and there is no limit to what they will resort to in order to
extend and ensure their survival. When it comes to self-interest and self-preservation, all bets are
off.
Nevertheless, these deplorable acts only serve to cause more trouble for them as they now
have to hide more skeletons in their closet. Their problems keep snowballing and they cannot do
anything except run. At this point, it has become all but impossible for them to live in peace.
They attempt to find ways to get out of the mess, they have this constant fear of getting caught,
and they have to evade their conscience and possibly the law. Many people in this position wish
that they had not done what they did or at least forborne from performing more deeds that are
vicious. The people who did not calculate the risk blame themselves for being so stupid and
careless. The ones who did, on the other hand, did not predict that it could be as dire as it is now.

Every choice has consequences. You may not see the lives you have shattered, the future
you have destroyed, the pain you have inflicted, the devastation you have caused, but evil deeds
always and ultimately bring harm. As a rule, the wrong thing is something that benefits one or
several parties but ruins many others. There may be a time in the future when you regret the
things you have done, wish to undo everything, and seek forgiveness. You may have realized the
error of your ways, seen the suffering you brought about, and understood that you are at fault for
all of it. You look and hope for redemption by admitting your mistakes, apologizing, and making
amends.
That is not enough, though. It should not be because you cannot take away all the sadness
they have endured, you cannot give back everything or everyone they have lost, you cannot
repair all the damage, and you cannot give them what they can never ever have. You cannot
change what happened. You are doing this not out of the goodness of your heart but because you
do not want to suffer. Well, others have because of you. So, why should you not? You do not get
to be bad and pardoned. How is it that you hurt them to get what you desire and once you feel
guilty you get an absolution and all is forgotten? Why should you always be the one getting what
they want? It is not fair or right at all. You want to be bad, you had better have the stomach to
live with it. If you do not wish to feel remorseful, then do the right thing, take the good path, and
be an honest person.
It is complicated to determine whether someone is a good or a bad person because honest
people still do wrong things and vicious people sometimes do good deeds. If someone causes
you pain but loves their family, those people will not share your views of their beloved. When
someone who has done thousands of good things does something evil, that does not make the act
a good one and make the decision to do it right. Nor does it invalidate the good things that they
have done or make them a bad person. And it works both ways. So, in reality and in essence,
there is no good or bad person. Few are better than most and some are worse than others but
there are only right and wrong actions.
Every human is capable of anything. Whether it is evil or good, compassion or cruelty, we
all have the capacity for it. It is just a question of willingness, circumstances, and choices. None
of us do only things that are evil or good. Everyone always has a choice, whether to do the right
or the wrong thing. They can do either one, but only one can give them what they desire or

require. Oftentimes it is easier to join the dark side for it offers better, quicker, more results.
There are people who cannot afford to be idealist because of the plight they are dealing with.
That still and certainly does not make the wrong actions right, because their decisions are highly
likely to have detrimental ramifications to other people. But wrong thing can be right or less
wrong in the eyes of people if they want to believe it or they need to do it.
We are capable of making our own choices because we have free will. We do not have to do
things we do not wish to do and we can choose to do things that we like. Nothing and no one can
force or stop us but ourselves. That is why nobody ever likes rules, law, and restrictions. People
want to be free to do whatever they want to do and if they have to, they will break, bend, or
ignore the rules. The punishments may be clear, severe, and scary, but they can only affect, not
make, someone’s decision. Everybody has the abilities to do good and evil things, freedom to
make any, right, difficult, and necessary choices, mind to deliberate the risks and consequences,
and conscience to tell which is right and which is wrong.
We choose to do and justify bad things because we only think and care about ourselves. If it
serves our agenda and interest, we will do what needs to be done. Rarely do we take moments to
consider the people that we will hurt, the things that we can damage, and the lives that will be
ruined by our actions. Admittedly, the choice to save and benefit ourselves is not by itself easy.
Everyone does have the right and ability to make choices and decisions, especially to do the right
thing. But it is not in anybody’s power to make the situation easy for doing the right thing all the
time. If it were simple, anyone would be a good person. But then where are the struggle and the
triumph in that?
We can make the choice and we do have a choice, always. But sometimes, often, too many
times we do not want to make the impossible, hard, right choices. Putting others before us is
even more difficult. But, if we can and try to think of other people and things beside ourselves
instead of forgetting or ignoring them, if we try to put ourselves in the shoes of the people that
may suffer the consequences of our actions, we will be less willing to do them harm and we can
see the greater good.
The eyes see not only beauties but also ugliness. The ears hear laughter and cries. The
tongue detects the tastes of sweetness and bitterness. The nose picks up fresh and rotten smell.
Humans feel pain and caresses. These show that our faculties enable us to perceive and discern

various information of the external world. To differentiate between right and wrong, we have
moral compass for that. Not unlike the senses, it too can have difficulties in identifying
something and can sustain damage. The difference lies in the fact that not everyone would feel
sad if they had a faulty morality.
The Price of Happiness
Everybody needs money. Seeing that we are not hunters and gatherers anymore, we use
money to purchase goods and pay for services that we require to sustain and prolong our
existence as living beings. Nevertheless, no one just gets money for free in this world. They have
to earn it, work for it, and make sacrifices for it. They look for jobs that will compensate their
time and effort with a sum of money or they give things other people need in exchange for cash.
But their requirements become more complex and their expectations grow higher, as are the
prices of the things necessary for them to fulfill their needs and desires.
Money has long since become the reason people live. People have associated happiness with
money for it is clear to them that without it they cannot obtain the things that can give them joy.
They open their eyes in the morning and no more than two seconds later do they worry about
their jobs. They let their work take up so much of their time, energy, and attention that they have
only little left for themselves, their loved ones, and life. They have forgotten that what they have
and are sacrificing is too important compared to what they are fighting for. They still do not
realize that as long as they want money they can never be free. They continue wasting their time
getting more money because they desire too many and too much. They cannot see that the one
thing that they actually need is the one that they cannot buy, which is time. They spend an
excessive number of hours obsessing with profit and in doing so, they are reducing their own
time to be happy. It gives a whole new meaning to the expression ‘buy some time.’ It would also
be ironic if they had to part with the money to deal with something that they could have
prevented in the first place such as sickness or accidents or they were unable to use it because
they did not have the chances and time.
Children can also be victims for it is likely that they are beginning to see and believe the
importance, allure, and power of money from very early age. They see their parents working
tirelessly and endlessly to earn every last buck for them, being stressed and depressed due to
pressure from work and their inability to provide enough, arguing with each other over financial

matters, or doing dishonest things to get more cash. Surely, children cannot find happiness in that
sort of environment. They see less of their parents as well as spend time with them, they worry
about their parents’ health, safety, and contentment, and they have to live with the guilt for
causing their parents to be miserable. It defeats the whole purpose of making and seeing the kids
happy that the parents have been fighting for. In the end, no one is truly or remotely happy.
Furthermore, children will also grow up thinking that their first and foremost goal is having
plenty of money. They want to get a better life, they do not want what happened to them happen
to their children, they desire to own and enjoy the things they could not in their childhood, and
they want to buy happiness because that is the only way they know how to get it and the only
kind available.
People rationalize being miserable for money as a pursuit of happiness. I used to think that it
is ironic how the search for happiness could cause so much unhappiness. But I realized that it is
that way because it is called a quest and not an enjoyment. Then again, it occurred to me that
maybe people have subconsciously let this pursuit get in their way of actually feeling and being
happy. No sooner than they got what they want do people set their sights on the next thing.
Granted, some spend more time being satisfied and grateful but eventually they will move on to
something else. It is beginning to appear more like an escape from happiness. When you keep
wanting more, you will be stressed by your inability to get those things or the time and effort it
will take. And who is to say that that thing will make you happy and sane enough to not put
yourself through the same ordeal all over again? You have to seriously and calmly consider the
possibility that this pointless and endless exercise can cause you to slowly lose the ability to feel
joy, not to mention the time.
It is true and it is good that to be happy we have to work for it, to make some sacrifices, and
to endure tough times. It will make reaching our goals even more joyful, meaningful, and
fulfilling. Without money to acquire needs as their incentive to work, people will just sit around
and do nothing. It creates and presents challenge to everyone so life does not get boring. But
when you keep jumping from satisfactions to sufferings, you ought to take a pause so you can
think and see if you want to be happy; because maybe you have been looking at this the wrong
way. Perhaps it is not only the external challenges that you need to face. It is possible that the
true enemy has been hiding all this time. It could be somewhere or something you never thought

of.
The majority of people reckon that happiness is not something that is within reach but one
that they move towards until they can get it. Fortunately and quite strangely, that is not always
the case. You can elect to be happy for being alive still or having people who adore you and care
about you. You can find happiness in knowing that today and at least tomorrow you and your
family will not go to sleep with empty bellies. Some things like time to live, time with people
whom you love, and good health money just cannot buy because they are priceless and already
there for you. Can you, though? Can you ignore and fight your impulses to get something more
or better than what you already have now? Can you be content with life as it is? It is a common
knowledge that our biggest foe is ourselves. You cannot get rid of your nature for it is inside you.
It is you. You can merely overpower it, control it, and tame it. It cannot and will not succeed
overnight, though. You have been living that way for quite a long time so you cannot honestly
expect to change yourself instantly. Nevertheless, you have to begin sometime and somewhere.
Being happy is possible as long as you do not help make it impossible. There is always a
reason not to be happy. Life is odd that way. It seems like your purpose is to seek happiness but
for various and scores of reasons you are making it harder instead of easier. It is not always
about money. There are things or people that can give you joy but you realize you can never
have. The ones that you successfully got turned out to be disappointing once you had them.
Shame, regret, guilt make you wish you could change the past and consequently forget your
present life, which in turn jeopardize the future. Sometimes not only do you not get what you
want but you actually have the ones you hold dear taken from you. You may want
acknowledgment, admiration, praises, perfection, power, control or more of them and pursuing
or longing for that has become the cause of your distress.
For all this talk, discussion, and debate about happiness, there is but a single fact that anyone
should be aware of if they are not already. We always want what we do not have and we want to
have it all. Our nature to desire is the one and main reason of our unhappiness. The worse thing
is that we cannot stop it, switch it off, or alter it. What is in our power to do is elect to find
reasons to be happy, decide to fight and ignore our impulses, and choose to learn to accept that
we cannot and should not have everything we want. It is not easy to be humans, indeed. Our very
nature drives us to seek happiness but it actually makes us more miserable. Yet we have the free

will to make a choice to be content, grateful, and appreciative. This is also why sometimes it is
better for us not to have something or someone we desire because then we will always want them
instead of taking them for granted, being disappointed or bored by them, or throwing them away,
which inevitably, naturally, and sadly are very possible outcomes.
Most people simply have no idea what they need to do or possess so that they can at last be
happy. They wish to be powerful, understood, recognized, important, loved. They try anything
but either it does not work or it does not for long. Nothing gives them the total, perennial joy
they crave. People eat, drink, smoke, shop because they want distractions, so they need not think
about and deal with their troubles. They run and hide in any way they can. They pretend to be
happy but deep inside they are sad, angry, and lost. But you cannot live your life if you keep
running away from it. You must needs face it, deal with it, and conquer it. If you do not start
making significant changes, then nothing will ever change. You may also want to consider
finding happiness in other paths. If coveting, longing, having, and getting all fail to give you joy,
peace, or meaning that you wish, then giving, sharing, and caring you should try.
It is so very much difficult for you to reach happiness because there are as many as three
formidable adversaries that you must defeat, often at the same time. The first one is your own
nature, which continues to develop urges and has never been satisfied easily, quickly, and fully.
You cannot prevent, control, and stop yourself from everlastingly desiring something, somebody,
and somewhere that is new, different, and better. The second challenge is the people in your life.
They might make it nearly impossible for you to be happy because they let you down, abandon
you, take advantage of you, burden you, upset you, or disrespect you. The last, of course, is life.
Each day it is going to throw your way different adversities and predicaments that demand your
strength, patience, and skills to handle. However, you always have the option of settling for not
being unhappy. It may not be the original, true, or preferred target, but it is considerably and
inarguably better than distress itself. Remind yourself that it cannot always be good times. It is
better this way, anyway. Happiness too can feel dull and meaningless if it does not trade places
with misery from time to time.
The Little Things
Often humans forget to take a moment and appreciate the things in their lives that they have
been taking for granted; things that are actually remarkably important to them such as water,

food, and shelter. It is understandably very difficult to be appreciative of something when there
is an ample supply of it, it is easy to come by, it has never gone anywhere, or you have never
gone long without it. But it is not until you find yourself unable to get your hands on it that you
realize just how much you should have been thankful for having it and what you would give to
have just a little taste of it. You would kill for it, figuratively and perhaps literally, if that is what
it takes. In some cases such as sustenance, that is the one and only way to get what you need.
There is something primal about killing in order to win a battle against something. It shows that
you understand the gravity of what is at stake. And when you finally get the chance of having
that something again, you will feel both sad and happy at the same time because it never dawned
on you how lucky you are as you feel at that moment.
Having the ability to see, hear, and walk as well as normal body parts and clean bill of
health are also some of the things for which people never seem to be grateful. It is highly
unlikely that they would think about how jubilant the disabled, the sick, and the hungry ones
would be to have the things that they seldom appear to put high values to, to take a very good
care of, to not be too lazy to use. The same goes with people. They would rather do other things
than spend time with the ones they care about. They think that their beloved ones will be around
forever. They never take time to imagine how it would be like not having those people in their
lives. With people, however, sometimes it is too late to realize how little you appreciate their
presence in your life and how much you really need them. Remind yourself that the best things in
life are free. Ask yourself what things matter the most and what you have done to prove how
much they mean to you.
Most people place too great a deal of care and attention to their possessions than to living.
They are too busy caring, protecting, and loving their things that those things define their lives.
They cannot seem to live without those, they have to make sure those are safe and sound, they
think those are what give their lives meaning. The things they own end up owning them. To
determine if you are one of those people, ask yourself if the things that you have make you
happy or miserable, fulfilled or imprisoned. If you care more about your stuff more than you do
your own health, family, and fellow human beings, then the answer should be clear to you. If you
feel like you are becoming one or already one, then you should know that those things are not
life. They are not your purpose, meaning, or a source of joy in this life and in this world. It is

nice to have them, but not having them is not and should not be that bad either. You need
freedom to be happy and it will give you happiness.
Living Life to the Fullest
Routines, plans, schedules have taken the surprise out of life, or perhaps more correctly have
taken the life out of life. Life should be unpredictable. Humans should be able to wake up in the
morning feeling excited to see what life has in store for them that day. Instead, their lives for
today, tomorrow, the whole year, and their entire time in this world are already set in stone. It is
finishing school, finding a job, building a career, looking for a significant other, getting married,
raising children, and kicking the bucket. But there has to be more to life than all of those things.
Life is not boring. It is anything but boring.
The best kind of life is the one where you have no idea what you are going to do today. You
just want to let life takes you wherever it takes you. To meet new people, to do different sorts of
things, to feel something you have never felt before, and to learn a new thing or two about this
life. But only a very small number of people live like that. It is a luxury. One that proves it true
that money cannot buy everything because those people do not care about money. They still and
do need money, but merely for essentials like nourishment or housing. They prefer to look for
other sources of happiness that do not involve spending money or tons of it. Thus, they require
not a lot of money and stressed they are not by demanding albeit high-paying job. They have
plenty of free time to do anything they want. They can enjoy their hobbies and interests as well
as look for new ones. They may not have much, but they surely take a great deal of pleasure in
life. Sadly, this life can only work when someone does not have responsibilities and obligations.
People with family who depend on them or the ones who want one must make sacrifices for the
greater good. Nevertheless, they can still get joy from the people and things that they have in
their family. They must have had a pretty good reason to be in one.
Life is but once and life is too short. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come. Live
today as if it is your last day because it could prove to be the case. You never know. Do
something that you want and have never tried before. Maybe you were afraid or you thought
there was going to be much time. You may believe that you will die when you are old even if in
reality, you know that it is not a certain thing. You ignore the fact that people do die so young
and unexpectedly because you simply do not want to believe that you could or are going to die

today or in the foreseeable future. That is what people who just discovered they had terminal
diseases and were about to die had always thought. Life can change drastically in a matter of
seconds. You do not want to get to the point where you wish to do many things but there is only
little time at your disposal. You would not be able to pick which one you want to do first because
they all are just very important and the impending doom torments you severely. You want to live
only when it is all you can do. Eat and drink things that you can actually relish, buy something
that you have always craved, or go somewhere you have never been. What is the point of living
longer if you are miserable?
Letting go of the past and stop worrying about what will or will not happen are necessary
too for you to be able to live in the moment. You can never change what happened but you can
learn from it so you do not make the same mistakes and you can teach yourself to be more
careful, smarter, and wiser. There are opportunities in the present that will never come back
while you are busy being stuck in the past. If something that you are afraid of does not come to
pass then you will have squandered useful time for nothing. If it has to occur and there is not a
thing you can do to prevent that, then why bother? Bad, awful things will always happen no
matter what you do. That is life. The best you can do is enjoy it while you can because there is
no telling when and how the unpleasantness will arrive. When it does, then it will be the perfect
time to deal with it. For the time being, it is carpe diem.
The thing about planning your life is that you rarely take into account the things that you
cannot control and predict as well as how they are going to affect your scheme. That is the
reason why not one person’s life ever turned out exactly the way they had mapped it out. Why
wait for a completion of a plan, for something that may or may not happen, to be happy? Of
course, that is not to say that you should just have fun nonstop because what you do today does
impact your future. Therefore, you need to make sure that you do not do anything stupid like not
studying, practicing, or working. What good are today’s pleasures if it means tomorrow’s
troubles and regrets?
You should also not bother yourself with the views, choices, actions, and lives of some
people. If what they are doing is not a crime, if their actions are not directly affecting or even
hurting you, then why go through all that hassle of openly and harshly criticizing, insulting, and
hating them? You cannot change people or force them to change, certainly not with pressure and

aggression. There are better things to focus your time, energy, and attention on such as your
work, relationship, family, and future. You may not like what they do or agree with what they
believe in, but you can be respectful, tolerant, and kind because that is the only way you can live
in harmony as a society. Leave them alone and keep your opinion to yourself then if you find it
too difficult. Live and let live. If you keep offending, attacking, loathing them, sooner or later
they are going to have to retaliate and it will get uglier real quick. There will be bad blood and
hostility so severe, deep, and widespread that the chances of reconciliation are slim to none.
Humans can live in peace despite their differences and disagreements if they do not let those get
in the way, if they realize that they can help each other, if they can see that they are not as
different as they thought. You can and will be much happier if you harbor friendship in place of
malice.
Meaning and Purpose
At some point in your life you find yourself wondering what your true purpose in this world
is and what the meaning of this life truly is. Why are we here? Is it nothing but survival? Finding
your next meal and avoiding becoming food? Is there something specific that you are supposed
to do in this life, with your life? How do you know you are not wasting your life? You are not
the first and will not be the last human being to ask those questions. Many other people have
asked or are asking now while hoping and looking for answers. They search for answers in
different places, with a different amount of time, and with different methods. Most just stop
asking, some get the answers they are satisfied with, others get the ones that are hard to accept,
and the rest are left with only disappointment. There are people who believe that the goal of life
is to pursue success and happiness. Others decide that what they want to do is enjoy this life for
as much and long as they can. You can encounter many who think that their lives can serve a
noble cause like helping people or making the world a better place.
I looked for my own answers by looking at the things that everyone in the world has. Maybe
there is a reason why every human possesses the same things. I spent quite some time thinking
about it but there was but one answer I could come up with, which is to live. At first, I told
myself that that was not an answer. Everybody knows that. But I realized that I was looking at it
the wrong way. I had never looked at them as being connected to each other but always
separated. I then knew my answer. To live is to use and to combine those things. What we are

supposed to do is what we can do. We can walk to see parts of the world we have not seen, we
can save memories of our lives and then recall them later, we can spend time with people closest
to us, we can feel what it is like to be hungry, and we can die knowing that we have lived.
But there is no right or wrong answer here. You need only find one that you feel most
comfortable with. The path that when you walk in it you will recognize that it is the right one.
You have the right and the ability to make your own choices. You need not be afraid if you do
not know which road to take or if it is going to be the right one. Just pick the most promising one
and try living your life based on that decision. See if it can lead you to somewhere good. If it is
not the one for you, then you can always find something else to do. Look for something that can
make you feel alive and want to stay that way.
Who Are You?
People need goals to aim for to give them a purpose in life and to give life meaning. To do
that, the first thing you need to do is decide what you want to become in this life. You can be
anything you want to be, get anywhere you like, and have everything you desire. The problem
and difficulty lie not in the target but in the realization. Bigger dreams, higher aims, and
stronger ambition require more effort and demand more resolve. It is because the better the goals
are, the more rivals there are, the longer it takes to succeed, and the harder the challenges
become. But more on that later. Pondering who you will be is the only thing you should be doing
at this point. You can be a scientist, an attorney, a designer, a translator, an athlete, a doctor, a
journalist, a chef, and so forth.
There is a wide range of selection of field you can pick from: music, art, mathematics,
nature, sports, history, medicine, science, mind, entertainment, business, journalism, literature,
law, public affairs, cookery, craft, education, engineering, fashion, economy, advertising,
technology, finance, linguistics, and many others. Choose one that you feel most interested in
and most fascinated with, that you want to pursue further or explore deeper, or that you believe
has the biggest potential for a bright future. Keep in mind that within the department itself there
are many branches and various jobs so take some time to decide which path you want and can
seriously strive for. Take sports for example. There is soccer, football, basketball, baseball,
tennis, swimming, rugby, hockey, among several others. You can be player, coach, or manager.
In linguistics, you can be a translator, compose a dictionary, or give tutorial.

Another way to make a decision is to recognize who you can become with what you possess.
To do that, however, you must first discover your talent, know where your strengths lie, and find
out what skills you have. And even if you do not have a special forte of some sort, it is not the
end of the world. If anything, it could very well be your advantage. You need not focus on a
single area but instead you can select anything you want. And without gifts to flaunt and to
flatter yourself with, you can actually concentrate on achieving your aim. Besides, flair alone is
never going to be enough if it does not have the support of other pivotal qualities, which you
may already have or can acquire. Determination, confidence, patience, hard work, curiosity, and
discipline should never be underestimated, overlooked, or abandoned for they are the ones that
make all the difference.
You can also try to find out what posts are available for you to go after, prepare yourself,
and eventually fill. The path of some may be influenced by their own unique aptitude, but for
others the opportunities and or the line of work itself will entice, promise, and assure them to
decide on something and commit themselves. There may not be enough teachers or lecturers in
an educational institution, you might be able to bring something different and make significant
improvement to the fashion world, or you could make something of yourself in the expansion of
the field of psychology. Or you can attempt to predict where and what the demands will be in the
future so you can equip and prepare yourself from today and reap the returns of your investment
later.
Once you have set your objective, then it is time to deal with the hard part, which is figuring
out how to get to the destination. Each field requires different sorts of preparation and skills in
particular, but one cannot argue that there are common approaches that everybody can employ
regardless of their individual career path. While there is no surefire way to accomplish your
purpose, some methods are more certain to facilitate more progress and yield the best results.
Going to school, academy, or college is the sine qua non for learning process. There you can
familiarize yourself with the field you intend to pursue and acquire the techniques necessary to
carry out superbly your future job descriptions. Even if you already have extensive knowledge or
a special knack, there is always a possibility of learning something new and unexpected that
could prove valuable to your undertaking. Furthermore, get to know more about the world you
will be joining by asking your mentor, discussing subjects with experts or buffs, and being aware

and informed of its development.
Have courage to trust your own abilities, to believe that you can succeed, and to face the
tests that lie ahead. Refrain from telling yourself that other people are smarter, stronger, more
capable, and more talented than you are. It achieves nothing positive to be envious of or
unnerved by the things others can do or have accomplished. You can instead see them as an
example and a motivation to improve in your own way. Moreover, tenacity is perhaps the most
important thing anyone must have for any venture in which he or she may take part. It requires a
great deal of perseverance to learn a massive amount of knowledge, to handle problems, hurdles,
setbacks, and failures, to continue despite difficulties, and to follow through with a dream. You
owe it to yourself to give all and the best of your effort because you do not want to wake up
sometime in the future and regret what could have been.
Take a close, hard, long look at the competition and the competitor because there might be
something there that can be of use to you. Identify the reason for and result of every action, the
pattern that events and actors seem to follow, the connection between the factors at play to
ascertain what you can try, what you can do differently, and what you need to do. For example, if
you are in journalism, you can endeavor to find out a professional whose insights about an
occurrence that is likely to happen might be relevant and interesting to the general public. That is
just one way for you to have the edge. Get creative, go the extra mile, dig deeper, look for room
to improve, avoid errors, take risks, push the envelope, be prepared, refuse complacency, and so
on.
Last but not least, think of what mark, memory, or legacy you want to make and leave in this
world. This is something that you can be proud of now, later, and forever. It is also how you will
be remembered in your workplace, among your colleagues, and by the people whose lives you
have touched. It could be your achievements, dedication, contribution, or sacrifice. Imagine how
your work is going to amaze lots of people and prompt them to learn more about you and even
follow your footsteps. If you work hard, if you are really passionate about something and want to
improve it, if you do it not only for yourself but also for people, you will become a legend, you
will be a tough act to follow, and the very mention of your name will mean something to people.
It is okay to feel good about yourself and your feat but you have to earn it first. And as you can
agree, that is a daunting task.

Saving the World
As the world spins more and more out of control with every passing day, the calling to try to
change it or even save it is being answered by a growing number of people who decide that they
need to do something, anything, if this world is to be a better place. You may or can be one of
those people. It can give you a sense of purpose in life and can make you feel that you are
making a difference, which is a good use of your life. The most significant thing you need to
know and remember is that the responsibility of saving the world does not fall on anybody’s
shoulder. It is a choice, one that should never be taken lightly and carelessly for many good
reasons.
Hundreds of things can and will discourage you from changing the world but that is part of it
and you must endeavor to overcome them. You should not expect this to be simple and quick to
accomplish. Why do you think no one has ever been able to succeed or even get close to
succeeding? The first piece of information for you to write down is that you cannot save the
world all on your own no matter how powerful and resourceful you are. If you really do want to
save it, you have to possess the strength of accepting your limitations, one of which is that you
cannot succeed with your every attempt. If your motives are acknowledgment, praise, fame,
accolade, or some other kind of reward then people will not let you help them and others will not
support and trust you enough to follow your footsteps. Do good deeds for the sake of doing good
deeds. Some people also only want to give this thing a try if they are sure that the whole world
can be better and their effort will not have been in vain. But you just have to start and keep doing
it with every chance you get.
You may also be hoping that your work can make a big impact but if you are in the venture
of making a difference, hoping for significant results will only weaken your resolve. If you are
doing it because you want the world to be in peace always then you are wasting your time
because this world is too big and too complicated. Do it because you believe in the idea that it
can happen even if it does not or never will. And make no mistake, helping people can never
guarantee you a sense of happiness. If anything, you will be miserable doing so because your
inabilities and the lack of your capability, time, and resource to help others can get to you,