An Encrusted Life

I believe that most people take the road everyone else wants them to take. They are fine with being encrusted in their cubical because it is safe. And who can really blame them? I mean, look at what it gets you: a comfortable salary, a wife, 2.2 kids, friends in the suburbs, and a common thread for conversation at parties. Hell, it has almost become fashionable to be encrusted. How else are you going to fit in with the neighbors? “Oh yeah I hate job too…haha…yeah, the other day my boss told me I had to redo his presentation for Monday for my own benefit…said that it would help me ‘reach the stars.’ He always says that, ‘reach the stars.’ What the hell does that mean anyway? So now I have to spend all of tomorrow redoing this presentation instead of going to my kid’s game…”

Don’t misunderstand me here. I am not in any way bashing people who work in office buildings to feed their families. I am actually impressed that they can get up every morning to go to a job they don’t like for their families. I just think that people are starting to expect that this will be their life, and there is something wrong with that. I think people get a false notion in their heads that, somehow, they will get a second chance at life on Earth. That is just not the case. How often do we hear of people who die way before their time; someone who is taken before they get the chance to do what they want in life? I mean, how many stories like that is it going to take before we see the light? Why do we think that we are any different than them? Don’t get me wrong, I fall into this mindset too, but it’s insane. You don’t get a second chance here. That’s just how life works.

I had to make a decision this year on what college I wanted to go to for mechanical engineering in the fall, because I have a passion for automobiles and want to work in the auto industry. I had a choice between Cornell University, the University of Illinois, the University of Michigan, and the University of Notre Dame. Cornell University, the University of Illinois, and the University of Michigan are all ranked in the top 12 universities for engineering. Notre Dame is ranked 48th. Cornell, Illinois, and Michigan are all smart and logical choices if I want to be a mechanical engineer. Notre Dame is not…it is a liberal arts school. Guess which one I chose…yup…Notre Dame, because, in the end, I felt the most at home there. It wasn’t the logical choice or the smartest choice, but I chose it because it felt right and it was what I wanted to do.

So this I believe above all else: everyone needs to stop wasting time in situations that make them unhappy, because you only get one shot on this Earth. Make it count.