The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F Prologue
Finally, the last chapter!!! This last chapter is about death and suicide attempt from Mark. Well, I don't think I tin can relate with this chapter that much. But I will endeavour to convey it to you as much as I can. Maybe there volition exist a lot of quotation. But, I don't know. We'll run into about that :)
Death scares us. And because it scares us, we avoid thinking about it, sometimes even acknowledging it, even when it'due south happening to someone close to u.s.a.. Yet, in a bizarre, backwards style, death is the light by which the shadow of all of life's meaning is measured. Without death, everything would experience inconsequential, all experience capricious, all metrics and values suddenly zero.
^ Okay, this is the longest quote. And I don't know what else I could tell yous. But I think I can chronicle with the concluding judgement. Life is worth it, is meaningful, because we accept limitation. Our life.
With our limited time, we choose. And just like you knew from Chapter 8, what we chose, what nosotros pass up, determine our value. If nosotros have all the time in earth. We wouldn't have to choose, and because nosotros don't have to choose, we get a yes human being, who doesn't have any value.
Actually, I don't know whether I'm agape of decease or not. Of form, I think what will happen if I'm dead, quite often TBH. "Will people be lamentable?", "Will they remember me?", "What will their lives be without me?", "Will I be missed?", etc. Simply, the idea of expiry itself never occurs to me. Perhaps that'south why I'm not afraid of expiry.
And actually, I don't recall I have big regret. My regrets is something like, "I wish I could accept met him/her sooner.". I don't recall I have a big, deplorable, meaningful regret :p
A lot of people, they seem to regret things, many things in their life. And this is merely my thoughts, maybe they are afraid of death because they haven't set things right? I dunno. It's just a wild guess.
People are so hard at letting things go. Yeah, well me besides sometimes. Similar, "I wish I could've done meliorate on that test." ← sudden realization later on comparing answers with friends. Just me? No? Too shallow for yous guys? Hahahaha.
Well, I don't think I can requite you advice at letting get and moving on. You simply have to slowly accept the fact, without falling in to the feedback loop from hell. Do non try to deny it, considering information technology will trigger the astern police.
Something Beyond Our Selves
There's a book, made by a person who inverse jobs four times in six years (yeah, he got fired, multiple times), and earlier he could get fired from the fifth, he got colon cancer :<
He spend the next few years crippled, and while doing and then, he wrote a book. The Denial of Decease. This book won the Pulitzer Prize and is one of the virtually influential intellectual works of the 20th century.
This book has 2 points, which are.
The offset betoken. Because nosotros can think abstractly and are able to conceptualize, we are, at some betoken become aware of death. We are the only animate being capable of imagining a reality without ourselves in it.
Wait at dogs, cats. They are not even able to feel miserable because of their looks. And look at us. That's one of our biggest insecurities, because we don't look practiced. Dogs and cats don't have to worry if they don't accept a career. Only, nosotros are. Dogs and cats don't have to worry if they are unmarried for the rest of their lives. Simply nosotros are. Aye, we are such miserable creatures, just that's what makes us human being.
The second betoken. The physical self is the one that's doing all the physical activities. Duh. Eating, sleeping, take a bath, pooping, working, etc. The conceptual self, is our identity, how we come across ourselves.
Nosotros, are enlightened our concrete self will die at some point. And to compensate this, we, the conceptual self try to construct a scenario, a thing, that volition brand us live forever. For examples, proper name on buildings, graveyard, statue, pictures, etc. We long to be remembered and revered and idolized long after the demise of our physical self. This effort are called immortality projects.
And what we fear is that our immortality projects volition cease to exist i solar day. Why are we afraid? Because this immortality projects is basically our values. And when our values fail, so do we, it means we don't have any meaning.
But, Becker realize that immortality projects are not the solution, rather they are the trouble. We need an antidote, "the bitter antitoxin", to exist able to come into terms with death as best as nosotros can.
Once we've come up into terms with our own expiry, we tin then choose our values more freely, unrestrained past the illogical quest for immortality, and freed from dangerous dogmatic views.
The Sunny Side of Death
The Stoics of ancient Greece and Rome implored people to keep decease in mind at all times, in social club to appreciate life more and remain humble in the face up of its adversities. In various course of Buddhism, the practice of meditation is frequently taught as means of preparing oneself for death while even so remaining alive.
Confronting reality of our mortality is important. Information technology obliterates the thoughts of how crappy and miserable our lives are. The guy with colon cancer, BTW his name is Becker, told the states that nosotros are supposed to live while asking what will our legacy be?
Annotation to readers: I don't sympathize this part well, merely I will still attempt to convey it to you lot guys. Bear with me.
We are afraid that we will live and so dice leaving no legacy. We try to avoid this question, "What our legacy will be?". Whereas, that is the most important thing considering expiry is the but thing nosotros know with certainty. Information technology should be the compass of how we live.
To be able to exist comfortable with death, we should be able to choose our values with death as our base. And basically we're going back to practiced values, the bones root of all happiness, which surprisingly, is taught anywhere. Considering the skilful value is caring about something greater than yourself, assertive that we are a contributing component in some much larger entity.
But, we are bombarded with the aforementioned message everyday. To be keen, to achieve more and more than and more. Our civilisation today confuses great attending and dandy success, assuming them to be the same thing. But they are not.
We are swell. Not considering nosotros have bang-up career, great life, nor all of the superficial things. We are great, because in the face of sure death, and besides with the confusion of our daily lives nosotros still live. We are choosing what should we give a fuck virtually, nosotros however value our lives. And that's what makes us great.
Sounds too cliche, only that's the honest truth. Null less and nothing more.
Well that'south information technology folks. That'south the end of this book. Hope yous can understand what this chapter is about. If yous're non, so I have that I am to blame and at fault and responsible. Because I still remember I tin't chronicle that much with this chapter.
I think I'one thousand gonna write an overall review about this book, but who knows. Don't look it that much :p
Run into you at another series. When I've establish some other good volume that is worth writing and sharing :)
Source: https://medium.com/@WilliamStefan/book-summary-1i-the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-fuck-1bd724bd17ae