Quarteruptcy

Today’s article is a spontaneous article. I only have a topic in my mind to write about and the rest will come through mind and out to my fingertips. Take this journey with me as I proceed through a simple set of thoughts and let’s see where we end up. No, we are not talking about money as the topic may suggest, but we are talking about something called percentage living. Haven’t heard of it explained this way? Maybe not, but I view it as the bankruptcy of life. Quarter is the percentage of life and ruptcy is a portion of bankruptcy. Where does the Quarter come about you may ask? My wife has this saying, “Wishing our lives away living for the weekend.” A vast majority of people these days are living their lives for the freedom of the weekend. This leaves us with 2 out of 7 days for “enjoyment.” Thus, we are at our Quarter of life.

You may be on board now with the concept but where does the bankruptcy portion fit in? I view our days like a savings account or paycheck. Each day has value and since we are discarding 5 days of each week, we are continually reversing our position. We are heading for life bankruptcy, or complete bankruptcy. Currently, most of us are situated at the Quarteruptcy position and trying our best to hold onto the status quo. Are we able to maintain even this minimal amount of enjoyed living or are we fighting an endless battle where we eventually reach the zero mark? Of course everyone doesn’t fall into this category, there are lots of people enjoying full lives and truly living. There are some at the halfway point and even some at three-quarters. However, with the trends of our society and family economic positions, I would gauge that the majority of us are at less than halfway.

Is it really that bad to be at Quarteruptcy? So what if we make due for 5 days while we head towards our weekends of rest, relaxation, and fun. Does it really hurt anyone? Sure it does. It hurts not only the person involved, but also families and relationships. We cannot live our lives waiting for the weekend. We cannot truly enjoy living in such an existence. Try and formulate a rational argument in support of the Quarteruptcy existence, I dare you. I’m not saying an argument cannot be created, but I am saying that it won’t be sane or rational. There is no justification for “throwing” away 75% of your life for the remaining 25% no matter how great those 2 days may be. Since it’s fairly easy to establish that it’s not a rational existence, then why are we living in such a manner? Are we insane or irrational human beings? No, I don’t believe so. Let’s look at some potential reasons why we are here.

The first and probably most important reason is that people are not satisfied with their occupation. Yes, people have more opportunities than any previous generation to find working opportunities that allow them to be happy. However, happiness usually doesn’t pay very well. Therefore, most people succumb to the needs of money and follow the dollar in hopes that money will cure the dissatisfaction of their working lives. Family, house payments, car payments, and food are quite expensive and some people sacrifice working happiness for stability happiness of the monetary type. Well, that sounds like an appropriate trade off doesn’t it? Does it? Is it an appropriate trade off to be a working zombie for 5 days so that you can be happy that you have a house to live in and food on the table? To me, no, that is not an acceptable solution. To others, yes, it may be an acceptable situation and they continue their Quarteruptcy with full knowledge they are trading 5 days of their life for 2 and money. That is irrational, they are costing themselves more than gaining.

Another potential reason for living our lives in Quarteruptcy is that we believe it’s only this way for the short term. We are “putting our time in.” The long term solution is of course to reverse the trends and live our lives in a better manner. We believe that we can spend some time in reverse so that we may go forward in the end. That’s a believable argument, even rational to a point. However, there is an important issue hiding within this argument. Life is finite and also not guaranteed. If you had a life expectancy of 30 years, would you live this way? What about 40? Even 50? We are blessed to have a longer period of life that we are “expected” to live. But, without the guarantee, what are we borrowing from? Living life assuming there will be time later is a version of gambling. You are putting your life on the line and you are living on borrowed time. Each day that you “throw away” could be the day you wish you had back.

Let’s end up with a reason of simplicity. Living life this way is just plain easier than the alternative. Yes, it is easy to go to work, put your time in, get your paycheck, pay your bills, put food on the table in your house, and enjoy the weekends when they come. Do you know many people that do that? Are you one of those people? Is this a satisfying existence? I can hardly support a yes answer for that. It is an existence yes, but far from fulfilling. Our lives have the ability to create great impact. If we allow 75% of our lives to simply be wasted, we are wasting our gift of life. We are abusing our time on earth. We are takers and not givers. We consume and never replace.

I can admit that I am living in the vicinity of Quarteruptcy. However, I am motivated to change this in my life. I have uncovered this reality over the last few years of my life and I have and will continue to try and move the “gauge” forward. Can you be so honest with yourself? I’m not asking for a public statement, just be honest with yourself. Now that we have reached a point of admission, what can we do to remedy the situation? How can we change our direction and proceed to leading a life that isn’t bankrupt? First off, nobody said the job you had would be fun, but nobody is forcing you not to enjoy your time doing it and do it to the absolute best of your ability. The job doesn’t define you, you define what you do. Treat your job like it’s the most important task anyone has and do it as perfect as you can. Secondly, focus on living your life now and not later. Life can be gone in an instant, never live for tomorrow. And finally, nobody said life was easy and the easy way out really isn’t all that easy now is it? Accept the challenges of living and proceed in your life to work towards being a giver and not a taker.

I believe that if we follow the simple principles above, we can reverse the trends of society and the world we live in. No longer will we be a population living for the weekend, but a society of people who live for the now. Live with passion and you will truly enjoy life. Give and not take and you will truly make an impact in this world. Build, rather than destroy, and happiness will consume our lives. So, starting right now, LIVE for today!