Im drunk but stay HAPPY man. Thats all that matters.
Quote:What should I avoid, other than debt? Where is the safest place to be?
What you should avoid is channeling your will-to-power in faux pursuits that drain it away while giving you temporary hits.
World of Warcraft. Coin Collections. Chasing women beyond reasonable measure. All your "hobbies".
Here's something to think about -
Quote:Human beings have a need (probably based in biology) for something that we will call the “power process.” This is closely related to the need for power (which is widely recognized) but is not quite the same thing. The power process has four elements. The three most clear-cut of these we call goal, effort and attainment of goal. (Everyone needs to have goals whose attainment requires effort, and needs to succeed in attaining at least some of his goals.) The fourth element is more difficult to define and may not be necessary for everyone. We call it autonomy and will discuss it later.
Quote: in order to avoid serious psychological problems, a human being needs goals whose attainment requires effort, and he must have a reasonable rate of success in attaining his goals.
Quote:We use the term “surrogate activity” to designate an activity that is directed toward an artificial goal that people set up for themselves merely in order to have some goal to work toward, or let us say, merely for the sake of the “fulfillment” that they get from pursuing the goal. Here is a rule of thumb for the identification of surrogate activities. Given a person who devotes much time and energy to the pursuit of goal X, ask yourself this: If he had to devote most of his time and energy to satisfying his biological needs, and if that effort required him to use his physical and mental faculties in a varied and interesting way, would he feel seriously deprived because he did not attain goal X? If the answer is no, then the person’s pursuit of goal X is a surrogate activity. Hirohito’s studies in marine biology clearly constituted a surrogate activity, since it is pretty certain that if Hirohito had had to spend his time working at interesting non-scientific tasks in order to obtain the necessities of life, he would not have felt deprived because he didn’t know all about the anatomy and life-cycles of marine animals. On the other hand the pursuit of sex and love (for example) is not a surrogate activity, because most people, even if their existence were otherwise satisfactory, would feel deprived if they passed their lives without ever having a relationship with a member of the opposite sex. (But pursuit of an excessive amount of sex, more than one really needs, can be a surrogate activity.)
Quote:For many if not most people, surrogate activities are less satisfying than the pursuit of real goals (that is, goals that people would want to attain even if their need for the power process were already fulfilled). One indication of this is the fact that, in many or most cases, people who are deeply involved in surrogate activities are never satisfied, never at rest. Thus the money-maker constantly strives for more and more wealth. The scientist no sooner solves one problem than he moves on to the next. The long-distance runner drives himself to run always farther and faster. Many people who pursue surrogate activities will say that they get far more fulfillment from these activities than they do from the “mundane” business of satisfying their biological needs, but that is because in our society the effort needed to satisfy the biological needs has been reduced to triviality. More importantly, in our society people do not satisfy their biological needs AUTONOMOUSLY but by functioning as parts of an immense social machine. In contrast, people generally have a great deal of autonomy in pursuing their surrogate activities.
You know how people get addicted to sugar, sex, drugs, smokes, alcohol, serial relationships, "knowledge", music, painting, theater.. all "art" right?
If you speak to ex-addicts (or if youve undergone a metamorphosis yourself), you'll realize that its always the storm before the calm. But the calm is so much more rewarding, the spikes, the endorphin rushes, the struggle, the REALNESS of it all right? What most addicts try to do is recreate that first real experience, that first rush... and go on amping up the dosage... when all you need to do is reset the baseline receptiveness to the attainment. This may be done by a complete reset via a complete withdrawal, or through
change.
Change and social interaction are two sides of the same time. Specifically, building real connections and climbing the social ladder. What you should be looking to do over the next 5, 10, 15 years is forging your own identity. Through change. Through struggle. I cannot stress the importance of struggle, and how rewarding the effort you put in is. Whether you take on a stereotypical identity or make one of your own, it doesn't really matter ---
the journey is the reward.
Here's a hypothetical question -- If I were to offer you 10 million dollars today, or a difficult opportunity to forge a path that leads to your deepest, darkest desires, which choice would you be happy with 10 years down the line?
We're all crack-whores man. Game developers, sluts, TV shows (all media, really), the prevalent zeitgeist, your well-meaning family and friends, the entire fabric of society... is built on draining that will-to-power. And we willingly submit ourselves to it, for that rush of achievement, in whatever form the achievement may manifest itself --- being the baddest Alpha male in your social circle, killing that level 90 boss, making out with the HB10 in the most exclusive club in the most exclusive city in the world, that yacht or that island that Richard Branson once owned. Renouncing society and going out in the wilds to live on your own, or adopting any sort of nihilistic approach to life is still the same crack-whorish behavior -- because you're still reacting to the current society in order to get that hit. And then we form habits in search of that illusory first "hit" (childhood is also an example of the first "hit" that people strive to replicate throughout their adult lifetimes....First comes the denial -- no, we're not really addicted, that we can quit whenever we want. Then comes acceptance (and this is CRUCIAL) -- we feel bad, we feel depressed, we determine that TOMORROW we WILL stop. We cannot truly live in the moment or be genuinely proud of whatever this habit is, but we still torture ourselves. We want to QUIT, and we tell ourselves that tomorrow, or on New Years eve, or on the first of next month, or when we get our next paycheck, we WILL stop. And we dont. We trick ourselves into believing that the GOAL is to quit, to become "whole"(healthy, wise, social, complete and a whole host of other masturbatory adjectives) again (implying that we're broken somehow).
But really, the goal isn't to quit. It is to chase that hit. The self hate, the denial, the low self esteem, blaming your parents, your family, society... artificially creating the "struggle" necessary for that hit, for salvation. Because if you get a regular supply of food, and shelter, and clothing easily ... you'd need another way to struggle right?
And without strife, it isn't possible to get the feeling of achievement (Which is why you'd probably accept the free cash but never be truly happy with it).
The key, I think (and im always wrong, so...) is to be able to regulate your own power process to include natural stimuli in place of these artificial ones. Regulate your own response to these natural challenges. Have(or discover) a "vision" for yourself. Think like a commander who sees the broader picture over an extended period of time, as opposed to a common footsoldier who only sees the enemy in front of him ("live each day as if it were your last"). And when you finally figure out it out , have the balls and will to pull out the plug and repivot when you find yourself giving in to distractions or going in a different direction (there's your struggle right there).
After all, what is a man if he's subservient to his emotions and impulse?
Happiness is a choice man. You could be happy in a concentration camp if you will yourself to be (hypothetically, of course).
You know who the happiest (fictional)man in the whole world was?
Don Vito Corleone, as he experienced the perfect death. Under the sun, in a garden of his own making, in the house of his own, surrounded by family that adored him, enemies that respected him, having struggled life to the fullest.
Quote:“Yet, he thought, if I can die saying, "Life is so beautiful," then nothing else is important. If i can believe in myself that much, nothing else matters.”