You Don’t Know What It Means To Live A Simple, Full Life. Now What?!
The proper function of a man is to live–not exist. – Jack London
Have you ever talked to yourself? It doesn’t have to be out loud, though, that is kind of fun! (Does that make me crazy? If so, I really don’t care!)
Have you ever asked yourself some questions? Like why you are doing what you’re doing? What makes you happy? Why can’t you just lose that damned 10 lbs.? Why does your life suck? Why do you not feel fulfilled? Why are Trix just for kids?
Questions! So many of them.
If you’ve ever contemplated what it means to live a simple, full life, asking yourself some practical and not-so-practical questions will help get you to where you need to be.
Or at the very least, help jump start your journey of self-realization. Yes, I’m telling you you need to find yourself! Who doesn’t want to find themselves nowadays? It seems like we all do. And by finding yourself I don’t mean mimic others. Imitation is not the highest form of flattery. All it is, is you just being a copy cat and not being who you really are.
“… you wake up to realize, your standard of living somehow got stuck on survive” – Lyric from Jewel’s song, Deep Water
Are we all content with walking, no, casually and apathetically strolling through life, with no real joys, no real sorrows, no true emotions? A life of just is? A life of just survival but not one of living? Doesn’t sound much of a life to me …
You hear this time and time again: You only get one life. Don’t waste it! Make it a great one.
It may come in different verbiage, like:
- “Live each day as if it’s your last”
- “Carpe diem”
- “Life is what you make of it”
- “You only get one shot at life”
The semantics vary but the message is loud and clear: DO IT!
Now guess what?
I’m coming out with another FREE EBOOK! This will be my second one, how fun! My first free ebook launched on July 1, 2010, called The Ultimate Minimalist Style Guide. If you haven’t checked it out, do so and download it. Then tell me what you think. It’s simply created by yours truly. It’s not perfect by all means, but perfect is the enemy of done.
This next free ebook is called Questions to Ask Yourself: From the Practical to the Silly, 30 Questions We Need to Ask Ourselves On the Meaning of a Simple, Full Life.
I’ll be launching this free ebook on my blog on Thursday, August 12.
Coincidentally (or not), this day is also my 26th birthday. Instead of receiving gifts, I’m giving you, yes you, my super awesome reader/friend, a gift! How cool is that? What I would ask for you, though, is to spread the word. Like fire! Pour gasoline all over, light the match, then drop it like it’s hot! Tweet it, Facebook it, e-mail the link to friends/family/coworkers.
Why, you ask? (Good, you’re starting to ask questions!) It’s because I want people to ask themselves these questions on the meaning of a simple, full life. Especially if they are unhappy. If you’re happy, hey, keep doing what you’re doing! That’s wonderful. You can still read the ebook for kicks and giggles. But if you’re not … well, you might just want to start asking questions. And then, demand honest answers from yourself. You deserve to be happy.
Come back on August 12 to get a copy of the free ebook! Or, just come back and wish me a happy birthday. :)
Stay updated of when the Questions to Ask Yourself free ebook launches by subscribing to the RSS reader and follow me on and Twitter . Thank you, my friends!
Welcome to Castles in the Air, where we're changing the way we think and view the world through minimalism! My name is Nina Yau, author of 
Nice post, Nina. Love the Jack London quote.
Glad you liked the post, Martin. :)
Sweet! Looking forward to the e-book! I loved your last one.
“your standard of living somehow got stuck on survive”
When we give up living in exchange for surviving we're exchanging risk for certainty and sacrifice our extraordinary ability for the status quo.
lovely idea. looking forward to it! & I just downloaded your first one. It's now on my reading list!
Excellent! Hope you will enjoy it just as much as the first!
You continually to amaze me with your wisdom and insight, Joel! Personally, smart risk-taking even though failure is most likely a viable outcome, is better than no risk-taking and living a life in auto pilot. It's so depressing.
That's great to hear, thanks Amanda!
I have writer's envy. I'm reading through your first ebook now & can't wait for the next one!
Maybe one of these days I'll get around to publishing something…
You're making great progress by posting on your blog, Bo, so don't be so hard on yourself! You'll do just great and I believe your work will reflect that. :)
Thanks Nina!
“Have you ever talked to yourself?” YES! I actually, talked to myself very often. Sometimes I mimic different personality and gender when I talked to myself and begin a deep conversation within. Why, you ask? Good, you’re starting to ask questions! Like fire! Pour gasoline all over, light the match, then drop it like it’s hot! How cool is that? A psycho is writing comments on your blog!!!