How Do You Live Your Life?

[Dillinger]

"Most people live as if they are going to live forever. I live as if I am going to die any day."

-- Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba the Greek)

This is very much the same as saying that one should live for the moment. Be in the now. Appreciate what is happening around you RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE SITTING NOW. There are also many magickal and mystical connotations to being able to do so.

My question is - how do you live your life? How do you believe Nikos meant the above statement? What do YOU think it means?

For me - when he says "most people live as if they are going to live forever" - that means that they pretty much go through life taking it as it comes - not GOING FOR IT - not living it to the fullest because, in my mind, if you believe you are going to live forever then you have all the time in the world - there's no rush to do anything.

BUT - if you live as if you are going to die any day then you will make the most of it, wouldn't you?

Do you think you have all the time in the world or do you want to make the most of every minute, every moment?

 

[Guest]

I live hard and love even harder.

I think that's why I'm always tired.

Does that make sense?

 

[Orwell84]

This question is way too profound to answer in detail while pretending to work, but I'll comment briefly. I try to look to the past to learn both in terms of what went well and what didn't. I try to live in the present with an eye toward the future. Conceptually, I agree that we should live like there is no tomorrow, and just go for it. Having said that, the truth is that I probably spend more time telling myself that I should have gone for it than I actually do going for it.

 

[glamorilla]

i'm a fly by the seat of my pants kind of guy.

it all falls into place.

i've been a little disappointed in myself lately. it's not like me to hide away when things get tough...but i also know how self desructive i can get so i've chalked the past few months up to self preservation and when i find the right horse i'm,um, gonna ride it.

mostly the rule is to live as widly as possible.

 

[alltherage]

My kids are tomorrow so I live life with an eye on their future.

 

[seXieleXie]

la vida es lucha - life is fighting. if you don't fight for yourself no one will.

 

[pipercatt]

Yes, yes, I get a million of those inspirational emails that all say, "Live for today, for tomorrow you may die," in all it's flowery word picture-y ways. Encouraging you to sky dive, eat that really rich chocolate dessert, or love someone so hard you pop a blood vessel somewhere.

However, the fact is, most of us don't die the next day, and what I wanna know is, do you really want to get up the next morning after living so hard the day before, and drag your ass to the gym to work off that chocolate dessert? I mean really...

 

[Orwell84]

Yes, yes, I get a million of those inspirational emails that all say, "Live for today, for tomorrow you may die," in all it's flowery word picture-y ways. Encouraging you to sky dive, eat that really rich chocolate dessert, or love someone so hard you pop a blood vessel somewhere.

However, the fact is, most of us don't die the next day, and what I wanna know is, do you really want to get up the next morning after living so hard the day before, and drag your ass to the gym to work off that chocolate dessert? I mean really...

If you're trying to say you're looking for someone to unlaod all that chocolate cake on. I'll take it.
I love sweets in general, and chocolate in particular.

 

[islandman]

"Most people live as if they are going to live forever. I live as if I am going to die any day."

-- Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba the Greek)

This is very much the same as saying that one should live for the moment. Be in the now. Appreciate what is happening around you RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE SITTING NOW. There are also many magickal and mystical connotations to being able to do so.

My question is - how do you live your life? How do you believe Nikos meant the above statement? What do YOU think it means?

For me - when he says "most people live as if they are going to live forever" - that means that they pretty much go through life taking it as it comes - not GOING FOR IT - not living it to the fullest because, in my mind, if you believe you are going to live forever then you have all the time in the world - there's no rush to do anything.

BUT - if you live as if you are going to die any day then you will make the most of it, wouldn't you?

Do you think you have all the time in the world or do you want to make the most of every minute, every moment?

Let's just say there's room for improvement. I tend to live my life as if I will live forever. However, two gypsies on two continents have both told me that I will be dead by the time i'm 40.

12 years, 7 weeks and counting............

 

[BigDawg69]

I used to live my life with the idea that in 50 or 100 years nobody will remember me or anything I've done, but that just isn't true anymore.

Now I live in the moment while trying to be mindful consequences and future ramifications and stay cognizant of how my actions affect others. Almost a Jedi philosophy?

 

[dreamer]

With honesty and loyalty. Nothing else matters in the big picture of things to me.

If I die tomorrow or in a hundred years all I want is to have known I did my best every day, every moment. Whether that's sufficient for people in my life I don't know. But it's all I have to give.

Sometimes I feel as if that's so insignificant then I get pulled back into reality when I'm told by someone I care about that I have "...everything to offer..."

 

[REDWAVE]

Magickal?

I get the impression the misspelling was intentional, so I'll bite. What is the difference between "magick" and "magic"?

Actually, if people really lived as if they were about to die, many of them might well be out there robbing banks, killing people they have a grudge against, raping women, etc.-- i.e., doing the things they'd like to do but are restrained from doing by societal coercion.

The real question is not "How do you live?" but "What do you live for?" False consciousness is prevalent in this area.

 

[pipercatt]

If you're trying to say you're looking for someone to unlaod all that chocolate cake on. I'll take it.
I love sweets in general, and chocolate in particular.

Step away from the chocolate man...just step away.

Actually, I'd be willing to share. I'm that kinda gal.

 

[Private Vasquez]

I live my life happy. I do things that make me happy, and some that don't (dammit!). I do take each day as it comes and have as much fun with it as I can.

 

[sunstruck]

I live life in the moment with the knowledge that people (not just me) have to live with my actions.

I think living totally for the moment, or totally for the future are equally dangerous and irresponsible. I've done dangerous and irresponsible and I know the consequences, and I've done the sit back and let life happen to you thing and I know the results.

Balence. Live in the now knowing the now creates the future.

 

[Dillinger]

Re: Magickal?

I get the impression the misspelling was intentional, so I'll bite. What is the difference between "magick" and "magic"?

Magic is "stage magic"

Magick is real.

Some resources if you're interested:

http://www.darkwave.org.uk/~rick/amfaq.htm (alt.Magick FAQ)

http://www.angelfire.com/on3/ulysis/whatsmagick.html

http://www.angelfire.com/stars/zanetwicca/wicca.html

http://www.earthspiritpagans.org/espfaq.html

(Just for definition - not to sidetrack this discussion as to whether you believe in magick or not.)

 

[REDWAVE]

Concept so vague as to be meaningless . . .

It's not whether I believe it exists or not. The concept is so vague as to be meaningless. The sources you cited admitted there are many definitions of "magick." Crowley's definition, changing reality through will, can apply to an incredibly wide range of human activities. A parent trying to potty train a child is engaging in "magick," by Crowley's definition.

At any rate, Crowley is a cheap pseudo-intellectual con man, far outside the currents of serious thought . . .

 

[Dillinger]

For Redwave and anyone interested in Crowley:

http://www.literotica.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107640

-------------------

Now, if you don't mind - back to the discussion at hand.

 

[Never]

I live my life as though I'll live forever.

 

[MorgaineLaFay]

I think I am in the biggest slump of my life. A life decision have you. Lately I haven’t lived my life like I normally would. I’m caught in limbo.

In general, and I think someone else already said it, but I am a Fly by the Seat of My Pants kind of girl. Living in the moment and to the fullest I possibly can. I stopped doing that about a year ago, my moment wasn’t the same as someone else's, and their agenda appears to be more important to follow, or so it would seem.

I’m try to get back to myself and live the life I was meant to. I want to look back and know that I was happy somewhere.


ehhhhh...that doesn’t make any sense.

 

[Orwell84]

I think I am in the biggest slump of my life. A life decision have you. Lately I haven?t lived my life like I normally would. I?m caught in limbo.

In general, and I think someone else already said it, but I am a Fly by the Seat of My Pants kind of girl. Living in the moment and to the fullest I possibly can. I stopped doing that about a year ago, my moment wasn?t the same as someone else's, and their agenda appears to be more important to follow, or so it would seem.

I?m try to get back to myself and live the life I was meant to. I want to look back and know that I was happy somewhere.


ehhhhh...that doesn?t make any sense.

Makes sense to me.

 

[AzureAngel]

I like the thread topic, Dillinger. And how I've missed the whale cock.

I can't presume to know what Nikos meant. I, at first, took it at face value...

For the longest time - particularly after reading "Tuesdays with Morrie" - I was determined to live life as if I could die that day. Which meant going for things that I wanted, doing things I enjoyed and not wasting time on things I didn't. However, there was an unexpected side effect of thinking with that sole mindset.

Arguments with loved ones. Almost every time, I would cave and let it go, no matter how hurt I was, because ultimately that person was more important to me. Or I would sacrifice pride or whatever to spend time with people. Fights come and go, and I was determined not to waste time upset or walk away from people on a horrible note. What that does, however, is create a rift. You've been hurt this much and have had no resolution to it. That's always there, the unresolved pain, and from it stems a plethora of smaller problems.

It also had me being a less sensitive friend. If someone I knew was hurt over something, instead of sympathizing with them, I would give them the kick in the pants I felt they needed to get out of it, move on with life and get back to smiling. I didn't want them to dwell on the bad, but rather to be objective and move on towards the good. That created it's own slew of relationship problems.

There were quite a few things like that.

But that was my slant on living for the moment. I tend to not like people who TRULY live for the moment. That is, they do whatever they want regardless of who it hurts, as long as it's beneficial. Or people who tell you what you want to hear but go and tell someone else another story - in the moment, it's the thing to do for them and it makes everyone happy. Lots of things like that... but that's the self-indulgent side of living for the moment.

Lately, I've been tinkering with my synthesis of living for the moment and just living for the long run. Ala, living the best that I can. I still have many of the same attitudes in my head that keep me smiling despite crappy situations and keep me going. I have the same things that keep me positive, confident, ambitious (with direction) and so on and so forth. But there are those rough areas mentioned above where living as if each day is your last is simply not the best idea. To those ends, I'm adjusting again.

Being an active participant in life - going for what you want - is a great concept and I whole-heartedly agree with it. It's difficult for some people to do that, though, when anchored down from a lack of confidence and learned helplessness, chained by a weak self-image and battered down by a lifetime of passivity.

That's my answer. As ever, a patchwork of random tangents that I hope are somewhat cohesive... let alone coherent.

 

[marksgirl]

I live my life to the fullest each and every day. How do I know there will be a tomorrow, it's not a given so I take today and live it. I stop to smell the mint I have growing, look into the eyes of my loved ones and tell them I love them. Day by day with no regrets is how I live it.

 

[Laurel]

"Most people live as if they are going to live forever. I live as if I am going to die any day."

-- Nikos Kazantzakis (Zorba the Greek)

I read that to mean that you shouldn't put off joy, that you shouldn't suffer now in hopes that some day you can start living happily. As a teen & young adult, I spent a lot of time moping. Then I figured out that I was the only responsible for my own happiness. I could choose to be happy and enjoy what I've got, or I could bitch and whine constantly. It was all my choice. I chose not to put off happiness.

I see many many people who choose the other - who complain nonstop about everything, who act as though life is sooo haaard, who can find joy in hardly anything...and even those things that make them happy are bittersweet. They deliberately choose things that will make them miserable. They fall in love with people who give them the runaround or hurt their feelings. They won't lift a finger to make their lives better.

I used to feel sorry for these people, and try to help them, until I realized that they weren't helping themselves. They CHOSE to be miserable.

I'll move mountains to help friends who honestly want to be happy. I won't lift a finger for miserable putzes with shitty attitudes.

Our lives are our responsibilities. If we're unhappy, it's our fault. Period. End of story.

 

[Shy Tall Guy]

I live in a balanced fashion. In some respects I always bear in mind the future consequences of my actions. If I truly thought or knew I was going to die tomorrow I wouldn't be trying to find a job today would I? What would be the use?

In other respects, with regards to doing something I enjoy, such as riding my motorcycle, I give less weight to future consequences. Such endeavors are risky and dangerous, so if I was too worried about the consequences I would never engage in the things I love to do.


For most people, literally living as if they are going to die tomorrow is not very wise, because most of us are not going to die tomorrow and we will indeed have to deal tomorrow with the consequences of what we did today. At the same time, living as if we are going to live forever, and putting off things we should do today is not wise either - because no-one lives forever.