This song is by a Toronto band, Metric. It's about a dissatisfaction with the material world and materials in general. Greed basically.[1]
If you like metric, then check out some more of their songs. They seem to have music videos for each of their songs uploaded now too :D
But this blog is about question. When is it enough? When do you (when are you supposed to) feel satisfied with your day's work and just sit back to relax? Teamliquid is filled with all kinds of people but I feel like they fall into a few categories.
The It's never gonna be enough:
The perfectionists who must work as much as reasonably possible to achieve 4.0 GPA's while tackling two jobs and running for multiple positions on student council and performing surgery in space. Sleep? Sleep is for the weak. For them it's never going to be enough. They can't sit still and do nothing for days on end. There's always something to do, and people to meet. Inevitably they go on to live a fast paced life in a major city working at a major firm in their industry.
The Why do it today what you can put off till tomorrow:
These guys wake up at 12 am, the earliest, on days when they don't have class. Life's too short for them, so short term pleasure should be a focal point. Weed and alcohol come often in this guy's vocabulary. But he's satisfied with how much he accomplishes on a daily basis.
Then there are the in betweens: Not much to say here. Imagine the two guys above fusing into one.
I'm aware that my generalizations are too specific. I'm aware that people relax more during vacation then during the week before finals. But for the most part, how much should people work each day and be satisfied? Should they do just as little as possible to get by? Should they try for 40hours/week? When is it enough?
Without knowing this I can't create for myself a schedule, a generalized ritual to fall into to make doing work second nature.
Obviously it's different for different people. Different people have different expectations for what they want to get done in life. So I wish to clarify: how much must one do to generate the most overall happiness (where happiness is defined as net pleasure - net displeasure) for oneself? How much do you have to do to set yourself up for the best possible future tomorrow? I have to say that some of the moments I look back most fondly on were when I pushed myself to work as hard as possible. But I neglected basic needs like sleep to achieve them.
TL:DR go to 4chan, tl:dr doesn't fit in this blog. I’d rather you read my entire convoluted mess if you would. Try not to post one liners like "just do what makes you happy", meaningful discussion please. Please post a reason for your one-liner.
thanks for the music. i agree with you, i also am most fond of when i pushed myself to work hard. obviously everyone is different like you said but i think when trying to find "When is it enough? When do you (when are you supposed to) feel satisfied with your day's work and just sit back to relax?" you must first set a goal for yourself, either short term or long term that you feel if you accomplished would make you happy or bring you happiness along the way. for example if your life goal is to be the richest person alive because you feel that with all that power you could make a difference in the world or just buy a bunch of stuff, or keep those you love close to you and safe, you probably wouldn't feel accomplished if you spent the day smoking weed and watching dragon ball z episodes.
i feel like the people who are "The Why do it today what you can put off till tomorrow" people you describe are just people who have not yet decided what goal is important to them and until they find that, this is the most relaxing/happy way to go through life.
being reasonable with the goal you set for yourself and being open minded about the way others spend there life is also important
Im a bit confused by your motive in this post. I took from it that you are trying to find a way to be as happy as possible. If that is in fact what this post is focused on I have some advice: Be as good as you possibly can at what you love. Oh yah, and say no to altruism.
This is pretty myopic and makes a lot of assumptions. I'm no philosopher but, you make two extreme generalizations and say everyone fits in one or the other. It's entirely not true. If you are neglecting basic needs you are probably doing it wrong or something, because that's not working hard, that's working in a spurt. Hard work needs a certain consistent effort.
Anyway, I think it's just about trying to make yourself better today than yesterday. All knowledge is ultimately self knowledge, so the more we do or learn, the more we can know of ourselves and be honest to the world. There is time for relaxing in there, but even when you relax you should engage the moment.
On August 22 2010 00:15 ella_guru wrote: This is pretty myopic and makes a lot of assumptions. I'm no philosopher but, you make two extreme generalizations and say everyone fits in one or the other. It's entirely not true. If you are neglecting basic needs you are probably doing it wrong or something, because that's not working hard, that's working in a spurt. Hard work needs a certain consistent effort.
Anyway, I think it's just about trying to make yourself better today than yesterday. All knowledge is ultimately self knowledge, so the more we do or learn, the more we can know of ourselves and be honest to the world. There is time for relaxing in there, but even when you relax you should engage the moment.
Gotta agree with this.
Just because I bust my ass off for that 4.0 and going for what I want in life... doesn't mean that I'm "never going to have enough" and am a greedy person or something... (maybe this isn't what you are trying to say but it kinda comes off like it is).
I know what I want in life and I go get it. Has nothing to do with "greed" or whatever. I know what I need to achieve in order to be satisfied, so I work hard and push myself towards those goals. That's it.
On August 22 2010 00:36 night terrors wrote: I think I'd like hanging out with you, Ella.
Let me know if you ever abandon your sunshine for the capital of Canada, I'll save you a spot.
On August 22 2010 00:40 shurgen wrote:
I know what I want in life and I go get it.
I'm with you on this. Our only obstacle is ourselves, all the time and everytime. Greed is terribly stunting, so if we want it I think we all deserve a place to sleep, eat, and work to do. Beyond that, if only occasionally , we should remain appreciative for anything else.
I lack ambition to do anything. I lack ambition because I have chased what I thought I wanted many times in my life, only to reach my destination and realize I didn't want it anymore. I'm tired of putting in effort just to realize that it was all for the journey, and that I don't feel any better at the end of it. This leads me to the conclusion that that is what I need, that is what drives me: the journey. The travel, the uncomfortable situations, the adaptation and survival. Any environment where these are not present is an environment where I become lazy, complacent, and stagnant in my personal development. It's hard living the life of a traveler, because no matter where I go I know that within a few months I will want to leave. How can I go to school, have a career, or motivate myself for long term goals when I know this is my character? I don't put things off as much as I just dismiss them as unimportant or undesirable to me. The "best possible future" is often a general statement for the American dream - career, loving family with 1.6 kids, white picket fence. However, the best possible future is what YOU think it is for yourself. But, what do you do when you don't know what the best possible future is, and when your previous attempts at finding it have led you astray? What would make YOU want to keep trying to figure out this issue? I personally have given up, and my happiness comes from living in the moment, regardless of the consequence. Any heart I break will heal, any money I steal will be re-earned, anything I destroy will be replaced, any person I meet can forget about me. The only consequences that matter are the ones that apply to myself. Selfish, but practical.
I feel satisfied with my days work when I set a goal for myself and actually accomplish it. Usually I set the bar too high for myself and am rarely able to finish it in one day, so when I actually accomplish my goal I am very pleased with myself. I often find that after I do accomplish my goal, I get really bored and just extend it or start doing whatever I planned on doing tomorrow.
On August 22 2010 00:11 lOvOlUNiMEDiA wrote: Im a bit confused by your motive in this post.
Well I can't just tell you my motives now can I?
I'm aware that my generalizations are too broad.
I meant to say specific instead of broad. I always get those two words wrong ever since I was conditioned into thinking broad meant narrow from playing mac brick wall. Editing that now while replacing the music video with another, same song.
I'm no philosopher but, you make two extreme generalizations and say everyone fits in one or the other.
The generalizations are there to show the flaws of leaving no time for play and doing just the opposite. I doubt many people really live their lives like either person I described. The person who works too hard doesn't leave themselves any time for work, and the person who doesn't work hard at all, sets themselves up for a bad future.
I can understand what some of you guys are saying: trying to improve oneself from one day to the next. It's a short term goal that carries over to a longer one, and it really is something within my grasp to attempt. However I'm reminded of an xkcd comic.
It's a four slide comic strip. In the first slide the a girl comes in and asks this guy working with some chemicals if he wants to go to a party. The guy says he can't because he's doing some advanced quantum sciency stuff.
Then the girl asks him why, and he answers that he wants to learn something new every day.
In the third slide the girl says "you know the tips of your shoelaces are called aglets." and the guy's like "really?"
In the fourth slide the guy is upside down drinking from the tube of a keg with two guys holding his legs up in midair. The caption: lower your standards have more fun.
I want to say that there is some truth to that comic.
@Shurgen, would you say that getting that 4.0 and working your ass off allows you to be satisfied with how much you do on a daily basis? You don't ever miss not being able to play games while studying for your exams or going out to a party? How did you decide on your goals?
Then the girl asks him why, and he answers that he wants to learn something new every day.
In the third slide the girl says "you know the tips of your shoelaces are called aglets." and the guy's like "really?"
In the fourth slide the guy is upside down drinking from the tube of a keg with two guys holding his legs up in midair. The caption: lower your standards have more fun.
I want to say that there is some truth to that comic.
@Shurgen, would you say that getting that 4.0 and working your ass off allows you to be satisfied with how much you do on a daily basis? You don't ever miss not being able to play games while studying for your exams or going out to a party? How did you decide on your goals?
Learning does NOT have to be intellectual. DOES NOT NOT NOT.
For me experience is the only teacher. Even if I read books it doesn't mean I learned anything, you need to apply.
Often though, I think people who are out partying have some envy for those that have some willpower (dont confuse willpower with social anxiety!!) to say no, if they really are on a thread of brilliance.
Everyone finds their truth their own way, I just think at this younger age it's our job to experience as much as we can. We are panning for the nuggets that later in life we will assay and determine the value you.
Let me rephrase my today better than yesterday :
as long as I am stretching my boundaries in any way, social, intellectual, physical, sexual, or spiritual, I am happy with my day. The best day is the day that can do them all for me.
Sometimes none happen and it is an ok day. Sometimes we _think_ none happen but many happened.
EPT
