A Simple Kind Of Life
April 6, 2010 | Filed under Life, Media, Q.O.T.W.
Now that I’ve got my male housemate reading the Twilight series as well (yes, I will draw reference to Twilight from now on in every thing I write), he posed an interesting question to me over the weekend: What if we weren’t as ambitious as we are? Could you be happy?
The question came based on the depiction of Bella Swann’s father – Charlie Swann, chief of police in the small hick town of Forks. He’s been chief of police for years. He lives in the same small house that he’s been in for decades. He has the same routine – goes to work, doesn’t know what or how to cook for dinner, and watches football on television every weekend with a beer in his hand. That’s the extent of his life, and if his wife hadn’t left him, he’d be extremely content with it.
So the question – could I be content with that kind of life? Could I be content working the same job for years without any significant pay rises or career progression? Could I be content living in the same house with no visible improvements to lifestyle? Could I do the same thing day after day with no change in routine? Could I be happy having a weekend game of football on television being the high point of my week?
My housemate doesn’t think he could – he’s a few years older than me, but remarkably well travelled (he spent two years travelling the world), and has just bought a share of a business, so he’ll be going into business for himself. He’s a university graduate (or will be, after this semester), and plans to go on and study for Honours in history.
I don’t think I could be content with that kind of life. I’m not as motivated and driven as many people seem to believe I am, but I: 1) consistently look for opportunities to progress my career and earn more money; 2) count graduating from university to have been important for me; 3) consider continuing further postgraduate study as crucial to my personal growth; 4) am a home owner at the (relatively) tender age of twenty-three; 5) travel as widely as I can considering my other monetary commitments; 6) have definite plans for future children and family.
Yet, millions of people around the world are content with a life with no change, and don’t mind working that same job, and living in the same house, and knowing the same people, and doing the same thing for years upon years. It makes you question what’s worth more – the sense of accomplishment that people like myself and my housemate get when we achieve yet another goal, or the easy sense of mindless satisfaction from having an worry-free consistent life that others get. Is the stress and pressure that I feel worth the sense of achievement?
Question of the Week: What kind of person are you – are you a constant achiever with a number of goals, or are you happy to let life take you wherever it may?
8 Responses to A Simple Kind Of Life
Leave a Reply
I reserve the right to edit or delete your comment as I see fit, though I only delete comments from anonymous commenters, or people with multiple aliases. Using a genuine name/email combination will ensure that your comment is approved.
Oh I see how this all is. You want to see how much we like you, meaning “would we be willing to ignore the Twilight asides for you?”. Hmpf! Shame on you for experimenting on us.
Ahem, anyway, back to the question. As far as I know I’m not a constant achiever. At least not for the sake of advancing, and gaining new stuff. Heck I got so fedup with my uni system that I avided the MAsters like the plague.
But when I like something (be it a subject/part of a subject/concept/etc) I try to learn more about, so that I can then use that knowledge to make it useful for myself.
I don’t think I would be happy doing the same exact thing my entire life, because I get bored very easily. But I can’t exactly see myself changing careers, or the field I’m working in.
Vera on April 7, 2010 #
I will also ignore your Twilight agenda and answer your question. :P
I am constantly trying to further my agenda and achieve higher goals. I was getting my Degree in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science and I just decided that since I had a lot of courses already, I’d just get the dual major and major in Computer Science too. Now I want a Master’s Degree too.
I am currently not content with where I live so I’m moving to the other side of the world. I think that’s proof enough.
Caity on April 9, 2010 #
You with your sneaky Twilight brainwashing techniques. Funnily enough, I think it is working on me… not :P
I would be bored if I were not constantly occupied with one ambition or another. However, life has handed me some strange cards and sometimes I have no choice but to go with the flow.
I do what I do to make sure I am contented, and that the people around me are happy (like Mike). Sometimes that means taking life by the reigns, and sometimes that means letting things lie and see how they go. It’s not an exact science, but it seems to work :P
Lilian on April 9, 2010 #
I am one of those people happy with things as-is. I don’t need constant change to make me happy. That’s not to say my life is perfect, but travel and money and new qualifications/whatever are all loooow priority (especially since having Izz).
Jem on April 9, 2010 #
I’m totally a constant achiever. I’m always thinking up new things to see or do. And while I’m not necessarily career-oriented (although I do care about my career), I’m more interested in personal projects, new ideas, and the whole places to go people to see sort of thing.
Standing back and seeing how things will go drives me batty.
Becky on April 10, 2010 #
I think I’m kind of in the middle. I like my routines, and I like knowing more or less what I’m going to be doing each day, simply because I enjoy being organised!
That said though – if I had to do the EXACT same thing every day for years and years, I might go a bit nuts!
Holly on April 10, 2010 #
I feel that this depends on my age. Right now for school, I am continuously trying to do better and aim higher, and I imagine I’ll do the same in my career. But I think I’m going to eventually hit a peak in that and turn to some other aspects of life. To be honest I wouldn’t mind settling with a family once I have a steady job. I need adventure in my life, but not the kind of adventure that comes from constantly working. I don’t think I need to continue to push myself to be happy eventually, though it’s important for me to work hard now.
Regina on April 11, 2010 #
I might just point out that the characters in Twilight are not what we would term “deep files” in the literary world. You could site Florentino from Gabriel Garcia’s Love in The Time of Cholera as a classic plod-a-longer in his career, but his passion lies in ‘loving’ for lack of a better term. He makes it his art.
I myself would love for someone to pay me to do what I love, but as a young freelancer I have to chase and pursue what I want in life; it’s not going to give you a nice boring existance without you working for it. But right now I want adventure; maybe some security as I get older but travel and passion and experience is my goal. And maybe run a cafe with my best mate when we are old wogs with too many stories and nobody to listen
Johnny on April 21, 2010 #