A Choice: An Average Life or Potential Exceptionalism

Anathema

Crotchety Olde Man
Apr 30, 2014
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The Olden Days
If you were offered a choice in your early teenage years to either:

Be GUARANTEED an absolutely average life... no highs, no lows, no great successes but no epic losses, no horrible tragedies but no grand achievements

OR

Leave your life totally up to chance and your own capabilitirs. You might end up being the oldest person to ever live or die at 17 in a car crash. You might make a million dollars or end up a pauper. Or anywhere in between.

Which would you choose, and why?
 
With very few exceptions no one ever has their life all laid out for them and even when they do they either rebel or have a life ruining mid-life crisis. Everyone regrets the choices they have made no matter what. It's maybe the most human trait we all experience.
 
It wouldn’t even require a second thought for me. I would take the average life and be completely content knowing that there would be no “downs” in life. See, I find the “downs” in life to be far more aggravating and problematic than the “highs” in life are exhilarating and uplifting.
 
It wouldn’t even require a second thought for me. I would take the average life and be completely content knowing that there would be no “downs” in life. See, I find the “downs” in life to be far more aggravating and problematic than the “highs” in life are exhilarating and uplifting.
The most content people I've known have been those who take it nice and easy, plan ahead, do the right stuff, enjoy the journey, and don't worry about "winning".
 
The most content people I've known have been those who take it nice and easy, plan ahead, do the right stuff, enjoy the journey, and don't worry about "winning".

That whole level of planning, preparation and forethought is wonderful but it can never be guaranteed to work. All it takes is a medical issue or a freak accident and it’s all for nothing.
 
The most content people I've known have been those who take it nice and easy, plan ahead, do the right stuff, enjoy the journey, and don't worry about "winning".

That whole level of planning, preparation and forethought is wonderful but it can never be guaranteed to work. All it takes is a medical issue or a freak accident and it’s all for nothing.
Life happens. All we can do is the best we can do.
 
The most content people I've known have been those who take it nice and easy, plan ahead, do the right stuff, enjoy the journey, and don't worry about "winning".

That whole level of planning, preparation and forethought is wonderful but it can never be guaranteed to work. All it takes is a medical issue or a freak accident and it’s all for nothing.
So?

A person should not at least try to map out a goal and work to achieve it on the fear that random chance will throw them a curveball?

Fuck that.

This is why emotional maturity and critical thought are essential. One can say to themselves that what would I do if X happened, and then put into place a semblance of a plan. It may not be perfect, it may not even work, but just 'winging it' never does.

The choices in the OP are asinine. We don't get those choices.

What we get, if we are lucky, are parents who teach us the reality of the world, teach us to think and plan for the future, and teach us to take responsibility for our own lives and not be a burden to others.
 
If you were offered a choice in your early teenage years to either:

Be GUARANTEED an absolutely average life... no highs, no lows, no great successes but no epic losses, no horrible tragedies but no grand achievements

OR

Leave your life totally up to chance and your own capabilitirs. You might end up being the oldest person to ever live or die at 17 in a car crash. You might make a million dollars or end up a pauper. Or anywhere in between.

Which would you choose, and why?
Lay low, minimal visibility. The less one is known by others the more sanity & $$$$$ one can retain.
 

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