Seizing the day is so exhausting

[MatchaChocolate69]

While I was processing my grief, I reflected on the nature of human existence.

In my ignorance, I even allow myself to play the cheap philosopher—yes, I know, it’s cringe. I can’t do much about it; it’s just who I am. Reading, hearing about others' experiences, everything helps to prepare us for that moment, that moment when we lose someone dear.

We can rationalize suffering, process grief, and make peace with it—much like if we were to lose a limb. We can survive it. We can get used to it. But things will never be the same. We will always feel like something is missing. The phantom pain.

But this useless preamble has little to do with the topic I wanted to discuss.

There is undeniable wisdom and truth in the so-called Carpe Diem, seize the day, YOLO. We don’t know what will happen in the next instant, in an hour, tomorrow, or five years from now.

We must try to live without regrets, without remorse, making sure we’ve done what we wanted to do, loved those who deserved our love, and left no loose ends.

Live every moment as if it were the last. Don’t procrastinate. There is no tomorrow; there is only the present. Because if you don’t finish that chapter today, maybe you won’t be there tomorrow, and the story will never end.

That’s the open secret, after all, to succeeding in life. There are no shortcuts; all successful people are those who work hard, who grind. We have only one chance. We don’t know how much time we have. We can’t waste it.

It’s simple. Easy to understand.

And yet…

And yet it’s so exhausting. Living this way is draining.

Not being able to take a moment to stop. To let go, to let yourself be carried by the current.

No, the world doesn’t stop. Not for us, nor for those who will come after us.

In the end, nothing changes, yet that story deserves to be finished. How does the saying go? We’ll rest when we’re dead. It’s exhausting, but we have to keep grinding. Nothing changes, but we have to keep going.

There is no tomorrow; there is only the present.

 

[TheBestofSome]

While that's not a bad philosophy, it's an incomplete one. The most successful people do grind, yes, but they also know the value of taking the occasional break. I don't remember where at the moment, but awhile back I read that people who work less are on average more productive than those who work more. As in, they outperform those people despite working less hours. I believe it might have been 4 versus 6 days a week, but don't quote me on that.

My point is, if you want to achieve, hard work is great, but avoiding burnout is paramount. You aren't going to do anything outstanding if you're dragging yourself around and hating what you're working on. Make sure you get enough rest (and I don't just mean sleep, though sleep is important too), because while you may indeed die five minutes from now, it's far more likely you'll live for another few years at least.

To make the most of every possible moment, you have to take a longer view of life.

 

[owotrucked]

It’s exhausting, but we have to keep grinding.

Good luck bro

I've defined my success as taking naps in the afternoon. I'm grinding that bed like a sigma

 

[John_Owl]

no lie, this kind of sounds like the start of an existential horror novel I started years ago. the MC was just slogging through life, exhausted by the constant need to do as he wanted. Can't rest or relax because I'm on a time limit. Gotta do everything on the check list of everything I want to do. Out of items? Now I need to add more to the list.

The premise was that EVERYONE knew when everyone else would die, but you couldn't know your own time. If someone told you, you'd just hear static. If you figured it out, your brain would basically short circuit and you'd lose a selection of random memories (Think like data corruption on a pc. Not all of it is gone, but a few files are beyond salvaging.

further, building on:

While that's not a bad philosophy, it's an incomplete one. The most successful people do grind, yes, but they also know the value of taking the occasional break. I don't remember where at the moment, but awhile back I read that people who work less are on average more productive than those who work more.

Yes, the more you work in a single run, the less productive each hour becomes. The "sweet spot" for humans is somewhere around like 4 days a week, 8 hours a day. each individual may vary, but that's the general rule of thumb that I've read. technically, even 4 10s is better than 5 8s, as then you still get 3 days off, which is required to fully, completely exit work mode. My point is, more work =/= more productivity. it just makes for more burnout.

 

[Hans.Trondheim]

I just go Carpe Diem whenever I want to feel something I achieved. For me, I don't like wasting time on something I don't wanna do, nor with things that I don't value (like idle office chit chats). I prefer to spend my day writing or drawing.

And if I get exhausted, I just rest. I believe a good day's work also deserve a good day's rest. This is something I always make a point to remind my students: you still got to live your life. Resting well is part of studying well.