Over breakfast this morning my eyes cast on a not unfamiliar middle aged man, like me, a regular patron to this shop. I could not help but notice his contented demeanour and an almost lazy jaunt in his posture. In my mind, I wrote the eulogy of his life and succintly put, it read that he tried, didn't get as far as his aspirations would have taken him, gave up and found contentment instead.
From where I stand, the idea of giving up seems remote at best. Augmented by my apparent youth and unmitigated ambitions, I strive to achieve wealth, stature and happiness like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet in a few months time, not by any consent of mine, another notch is etched onto the tree of my life, and I wonder at what point do I throw in the towel? Then again, is it that bad?
It has been said that the traditional chinese man is more likely to die in his sleep after retirement compared to someone still striving in his grey-er years. So on we work, unrelentless, discontented and just driven enough to push the idea of "resting for good" backwards another few years...
What is the purpose of it all again?
The story goes that a fairly young and ambitous man, not unlike me, chanced upon a middle aged man lazing by the pier with a fishing rod in hand. The young man chastised his older counterpart for being lazy when he could be achieving so much more with his life.
"And why would I want to achieve more?" said the older man.
"SO that you could earn more money!"
"And what would I do with that money?" he persisted.
The young man replied, "You could buy anything you want."
"And when I have everything I want, what next?"
"Well, you could then retire in comfort and relax by the beach all day long..." trumpeted the younger.
"And what am I doing now?"
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