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I mean, the minimilistic existence sucks anyways, so why bother living at all?
No it doesn't. I live in the USA, on $800 a month, which covers rent in a modern, clean, safe place, utilities, food, a few other things that I like. I have a very healthy diet, I live in a community of my choice, which I enjoy and respect, and it takes me about 2 minutes to fall asleep at night.
I don't know anything about your life, but I bet if I did, I'd find some aspects of it that would make me want to kill myself. But that doesn't inspire me to ask you why you bother living at all, because you've made your choice.
OK, maybe that's not the best way of asking it. But to me, I cannot really see the point of working more than the bare minimum for subsistence. As they say, you can't take it with you. Life is limited, there is a finite number of hours to our existence. So why waste hours of your life (hours you can never get back) working for a bunch of useless stuff?
Why not instead live a minimalist existence? Ensure that basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter are taken care of, and maybe take on more work temporarily if there is some thing that really is that important to you.
After all, 100 years from now, every one of us will likely be no more than a memory. A rotting, decaying corpse planted 6 feet underground, eaten by worms.
Well, that's my morbid thought for the day. Is life really worth anything?
Uh, I kinda take it that you're pretty much a "the glass is half-empty" person, eh?
OK...well, thanks for the uplifting post. But I think you missed your calling. You should write Hallmark Cards.
Or at least that's what your keepers have told you. Stay on the hamster wheel if that's what turns your crank. Free country. But don't assume, because someone with ulterior motives told you so, that a minimalist life is not fulfilling. It's actually quite liberating.
Uh, I kinda take it that you're pretty much a "the glass is half-empty" person, eh?
OK...well, thanks for the uplifting post. But I think you missed your calling. You should write Hallmark Cards.
No it doesn't. I live in the USA, on $800 a month, which covers rent in a modern, clean, safe place, utilities, food, a few other things that I like. I have a very healthy diet, I live in a community of my choice, which I enjoy and respect, and it takes me about 2 minutes to fall asleep at night.
I don't know anything about your life, but I bet if I did, I'd find some aspects of it that would make me want to kill myself. But that doesn't inspire me to ask you why you bother living at all, because you've made your choice.
How did people on this forum get so hateful?
Oh dear Lord Jtur, back in that century when they invented you, did they not have sense of humor, so they didn't put it in the package, or was there no room for it, cuz you were over the top full of cliches?
well, the time between birth and death is pretty long for a lot of people. and most people want to be comfortable during that time, not eking out a hard living in poverty. it's in our wretched nature to minimize pain and maximize comfort, isnt it? especially since the world we live in today tells us that we NEED to have at least a middle-class lifestyle with all its electronics, cars, frequent shopping binges, etc. and when everyone around you is doing it, you almost automatically fall in line. again, it's our nature. that is really all it is.
Consumption for the sake of consumption, that is, for status, is empty and unfulfilling. People who live for that will never have enough, as their compulsive buying is an unsuccessful attempt to fill the void. Life is about experiences, so purchases which contribute to meaningful experiences contribute to a deep sort of happiness. The person who truly loves music may spend quite a bit on a really good sound system, but the person who buys the same sound system just to keep up with his neighbor has gained nothing. Jtur88 is unduly pessimistic, I think, about the power of advertising (by which so many people have been taken, it is true); all one has to do to live a simpler life in the materialistic sense is to decide that's what one wants, and that choice is not as rare as Jtur88 seems to think. ChrisC refers to working for a living as being on the hamster wheel. That is unnecessarily insulting to all the people who have meaningful and fulfilling jobs. (Yes, I know, many people do not). Meaningful work, loving relationships, gaining more knowledge, artistic pleasure - these things are deeply satisfying and they depend only to a limited degree on money.
Some fortunate people actually enjoy what they do for a living and don't see it as a waste of time.
If you only make crappy wages all your life then when you hit retirement age you'll be too poor to enjoy yourself. It's true you might die the day you retire, or you might live 40 more years. I personally find retirement the most enjoyable time of my life and with good planning have the resources to do what I enjoy - travel the world. If I hadn't planned ahead I'd be living in some dump eating catfood.
Exactly, the goofing off and getting by might seem the way to go until the day comes when your bagging groceries at 65 years old while your peers are having cocktails on the golf cart every afternoon.
OK, maybe that's not the best way of asking it. But to me, I cannot really see the point of working more than the bare minimum for subsistence. As they say, you can't take it with you. Life is limited, there is a finite number of hours to our existence. So why waste hours of your life (hours you can never get back) working for a bunch of useless stuff?
Why not instead live a minimalist existence? Ensure that basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter are taken care of, and maybe take on more work temporarily if there is some thing that really is that important to you.
After all, 100 years from now, every one of us will likely be no more than a memory. A rotting, decaying corpse planted 6 feet underground, eaten by worms.
Well, that's my morbid thought for the day. Is life really worth anything?
Different people have different reasons for doing so.
And their reasons are all valid to them.
Personally I enjoy certain hobbies.
And some of those hobbies cost money.
So I make more than the bare minimum to enjoy those hobbies.
Also I am earning extra so that in the next few years I can stop working for someone else and be my own boss.
And since i am planning to die before growing old/retirement age, I have to put my goals on a rushed timetable.
That is unless the foundation/community i belong to actually finds a way to retard aging altogether and I may stay around for a while.
Thirdly, eating healthy is more expensive than eating junk food if you are not growing and raising your own foodstuffs.
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Jtur, back in that century when they invented you, did they not have sense of humor, so they didn't put it in the package, or was there no room for it, cuz you were over the top full of cliches?
