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To
live ... or plan to live?
Johnny Banter,Youthlink Writer
There
are so many different, fascinating opinions
on how people should live their lives that
it's hard for me to figure out which direction
I should go since most times, the views
more or less contradict one another.
Some
say that we should live each day as if it's
our last; never let a day go by with us
being unhappy. These are the same people
who believe in health insurance rather than
life insurance. I haven't exactly thought
about the insurance thing, but on the surface
it seems to make sense.
Now,
here's my thing with that approach. If it
is that we are to live each day like it's
our last, then preparation and planning
are to be thrown out the window. When I
tried that approach (it was short-lived
obviously), I found myself skipping a lot
of classes because I generally found them
painful and burdensome to my existence.
However, had I not been blessed with a capable
mind, absence from those classes could have
resulted in absolute failure in my external
exams and I would have had to go find a
cardboard box to live in. I'm serious, my
parents don't joke like that. So, I find
that approach to be flawed and it can't
work for me.
On
the other hand, a dear friend of mine told
me that we should put things in place now,
so that we can ensure that we end up in
positions which will allow us to indulge
in all the awesome things that we dream
of later on.
I
see the point of the argument. Construct
a solid foundation and all that so that
we can have our entire lives to do whatever
we want. But, that's just it, no one knows
when life will reach the 'entire' point.
I don't want to be that person who spent
all of his life trying to reach the top
of the hill without smelling the roses,
being momentarily distracted by a spider
weaving its web, laughing at myself for
falling in animal dung, or taking the more
scenic route to get to the top.
So
where is the balance? I really want to know.
Otherwise, I fear that life for me, maybe
all of us, will be particularly unfulfilling.
For
questions or comments email us at yl.jamaica@live.com.
Telephone 932-6219. Coordinator's email:
kareem.latouche@gleanerjm.com.
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