“One of the most perilous illusions is that your real life has not yet begun, that your present existence is a mere prelude to some idyllic future. This idyll is a mirage that will fade as you approach, revealing the prelude you hurried through was, in fact, the one to your death.”
I think this is originally written by Steve Burch – if you know who originally wrote it please let me know.
It resonated with me so much I thought I’d break it down and see if I could get it to make more sense.
The illusion that your real life has not yet begun. This seems to be the default setting for most of us. Waiting for that one thing, the thing that changes everything. You and I always seem to be waiting to be there, just in the right place. Richard Wilkins (The Ministry of Inspiration) talks a whole lot about being there – he even has badges made that say “I’m there as a reminder that there is no there, we are already there and it’s here.
You can’t keep waiting for the moment, the right relationship, the right client. As hunter-gatherers long understood, if you want to eat today it will involve you being uncomfortable, you will have to get out there, take some action. Get on and do stuff if you really want to eat today.
You and I can’t keep waiting, ffs – none of us find our feet for the first twenty years, one-fifth of your total life if you are lucky. Waiting to be there is not an option. You’ll only end up waiting for death, until death.
Your present existence is a mere prelude to some idyllic future. This life is not a trial, we don’t get to come back here again, it’s a once-only chance to do something or nothing. This is your choice now. Your future has not been built yet. It’s less about setting goals and hoping. It is about setting your path and starting to walk.
This idyll is a mirage that will fade as you approach, whatever you think you were approaching it will fade into nothing, will never be seen again. Only it’s not even a mirage. If your horoscope in the Daily Mail tells you today – that it’s over, you’ve fucked it up, you’ve squandered time and you’ll never get it back – and the decisions you make now will determine your future. You’d read it and think – really. Is that what’s happened? Because that is what we do, we don’t want to think about it, it’s far too painful to think, to even consider what you’ve wasted.
That Coffee you have traded twenty minutes of your life for will be cold and undrinkable in a few minutes (cold coffee is devils spawn). Don’t trade your life for stuff that will not benefit you in the short, medium or long term. That bit of your life, you’ve just traded for stuff or spent arguing with a bureaucratic masturbator (think Local Government official, parking attendant – those that get off on enforcing petty rules – it’s also a Mark Fisher term) that time has gone, never to come back. Literally wasted.
Write your own horoscope, it’s not written in the stars – it’s a written in your head.
Revealing the prelude you hurried through was, in fact, the one to your death. Life is a terminal illness. No one leaves this place alive (Foo Fighters). There is no coming back, the rush to complete meaningless tasks ensure that only your legacy gets to survive, your stuff, your money just cannot be taken with you.
Your prelude, the madness is being good at shit stuff, the madness is thinking it will all be alright. It’s never alright you are gonna fucking die and you will not come back. We only have now, we only have today and the future, it needs to be managed, thought about, it needs a plan and then you need to take action to work that plan. None of this complicated.
No one cares about you, no one is coming to save you – the White Knight is not coming down the road to save you, to sweep you up. No lottery win, no loving partner, no friends or family – it’s all down to you and you are dying.
If you want to be epic then go do epic shit. You are gonna die soon and no one gives a fuck. Not now not ever.
Make the call, create the sales letter, create a product while your chance still exists.
Please.
Richard
PS A shit storm is coming, they always do. Both of mine have started with health and ended up as a right financial mess. I got good at this stuff by actually living it myself. Please don’t wait for your own shit storm – they are not nice – but your horoscope is saying the shit storm will happen unless you make a different plan.
Please reread and promise me you won’t wait
Inspired by Johnny Truant
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/18901427-you-are-dying-and-your-world-is-a-lie
And
My Longest Post Ever
“You can do it, you are much better than a frog and frogs are fucking brilliant – which makes you, fucking’ awesome. You are a complex and a very lucky collection of atoms – that will go on to do great things – if only you’d accept that change is coming whether you like it or not.”