Meh

When the going gets tough…

…the tough find meaning? I dunno. Something like that.

This one’s for me as much as anyone else, so take from it what you will.

There is more to life than collecting more stuff. You don’t need a new car, or a bigger house, or a better job. You don’t need this, that, and the other to be happy.

In fact, you should stop chasing happiness. Happiness is a wild animal—and if it were easier to catch, it would be hunted to extinction by lazy, self-serving people like us.

The more you chase happiness, the faster it runs. #choosejoy, sure, but #becontent.

This one’s titled “Meh” because, well, I’m reminded motivation is a choice.

Do I believe in everything we’re building here? Without a doubt.

Do I want to do this sort of thing all the time? Absolutely.

And yet, there are times like this when I find myself struggling. Writing these every day is something of a commitment I’ve made. And I’ve not been anywhere near as consistent with them as I would like.

Seth Godin says #shipit only matters when the deadline drives a focus on quality and results.

Results that funking matter.

Here’s what happens—again, speaking for myself—I get ridiculously excited about the future. We’re gonna do this thing and it’s gonna be awesome.

We get started. We make progress. We give up on burning the candle at both end and just dump all our candles on the bonfire. OMGWTFBBQYAAASSSSSS. It’s glorious.

But somethings take time. Agile or not, you don’t ship half-assed product.

But life happens. The IRL (In Real Life) doesn’t stop.

And I’m not even talking about the mundane shit like laundry, groceries, and shoveling out the garage for bulk trash day. I’m talking about big stuff that forces new, often painfully clear perspectives.

I don’t think we should always be happy.

I don’t think we should always be content, either.

We should all aspire to something—but what? And what happens when you start looking around and seeing how so much of what fills our lives doesn’t matter—but how little of it you can just make go away without significant investments of time and energy and money (which would all be better invested into more meaningful things)?

Why do I want a new car? Because I don’t want to keep dicking with my old one.

Why do I want a new house? Because I don’t want to keep dicking with my old one.

Why do I want more money? Because I don’t want to keep dicking with my old debts.

Society tells me buying more stuff will make me happy. It tells me all my friends are living real, kick-ass lives, filled with exotic vacations, high performance machines, name brand tacticool clothing, and gourmet meals all day every day.

Society tells me to fill the hole in my soul with dope.

My heart tells me otherwise.

I wish connecting the dots was as easy as discovering them.

I don’t want to be on Facebook anymore. LinkedIn, despite a relatively concerted effort of late, just seems like more of the same—a waste of time built around shilling derivative, lowest common denominator, minimal value, divisive bullshit in pursuit of quarterly profits.

It’s hard to reallocate your life when it’s so diversified for so long, but that’s what it takes.

Quality > Quantity.

Better > Right.

Once the candles are all gone, we gotta burn something.