Set of Tools

Like I said before, there are just two simplistic goals in life, that I strive for and I personally think everyone owes it to this earth and their selves to strive for them. Namely, experience the world and reproduce yourself. There is no chronological order to be held. One can comfort the other or somehow determine the other!

Well, to chase these goals, it takes some courage to exploit your tools accordingly. For me, living in a first world western civilization, the tools to reach my goals are:

• Job
• Education
• Health

Since they are all interdependent, there is no order here. They are all to be completely individualized though. I think, it starts with health. Following the statement “a sound mind in a sound body”, sports and healthy nutrition are the basic for contentment. It is physiologically proven, that a balanced nutrition as well as regular athleticism forces the body to relieve hormones that cause the feeling of joy. The most important ones are Dopamine, Serotonin and Adrenalin, which can also occur in other situations, but they’re strongly connected to sporting activity. And it may be one of the easiest ways to relieve those hormones.

My favorite sport was always soccer, I played it since 1^st grade and never really stopped. But that changes at the moment. With my son on his way, my studies at the one hand, my job at the other, it is still attractive to play soccer, but quite difficult to achieve. Soccer involves a team of up to 20 players and your success is also determined by your team spirit. Since I’m not longer able to attend every training/match, there is no reason to hold on to that. There is a shift in interests going on in my head. The ambition to win every match and be first place in the league is fading and the core impulse is to just stay athletic. I’m ensuring that with jogging 30km a week and two times workout a week. Long term goal is full control of my body weight through sport and nutrition, by 2017. Midterm goal is a marathon a year and the daily/weekly goals serve them both. That is how I plan: days serve my weeks, weeks serve my larger goals. On this topic every man’s for himself, but there should be a system in place to ensure measurability and regularity.

Nutrition starts with drinking enough water a day. For me that’s more or less 3 liters, depending on the workout that day. In general, 35ml per kg body weight is the guidance. Accompanied by whole meal nutrition, fruit, vegetables, lean fish/chicken and potato/rice your health goals are quite achievable. Additionally, those nutrition components facilitate the dumping of the joy hormones mentioned above. So you see, health isn’t a real hassle. It doesn’t need to be a six-pack or size zero. All you need is to feel well in your clothes and enjoy to great the person in the mirror every morning.

Next: two more intensive tools…

Stuff I learned so far

Life’s not about studies. Life’s not about your job. Not about your beloved things you keep piling up in your home.

For me, so far, life is about learning and expressing yourself. Finding the courage to go after your dreams or pursue your goals. Which is of course generic like saying, life is about…breathing or not dying. Well yeah, it is that generic. Life is generic. We humans put all kinds of obstacles, rules, obligations, norms in it. Itself, life is just your shot at the world. It took me 24 years to figure out, that maybe the traditional way isn’t mine. That I don’t need to accomplish something society requires from a person my age first, to then start following my dreams. I find it ridiculous while writing it, but it’s true. And it counts for many people outside. Admitting it is the first step. At least for me, writing online was the proper way to free my mind. I could’ve shouted it from a rooftop, write a letter to myself, tell it my girlfriend or so on. Find your own method.

I could have learned that a lot earlier. Saved myself some time, done other stuff. Well and here we go, the last two sentences are part of the problem. I’ve learned something about me FULLSTOP. Now let’s move on.

My opinion is, that there are two reasons I’m here on this blue planet we call earth. First one is, to experience as much of this planet as possible. Second, to put a little human in this world, so he/she can experience the world herself. Which is also called the reproductive instinct. That’s about it. Everything else is side dish.

Experience, in my case, doesn’t necessarily mean travel or geographically experience the world. It just means experience your environment (the earth) with all its ingredients. The experience radius is quite individual. Maybe determined by external forces like law, borders (real ones, financial ones, language ones), war, disabilities and so on. Maybe determined by your personal beliefs or capacities. However, everyone is here to learn, gain from his environment and develop consecutively over his/her life.

Stuff we do every day, like jobs, meetings, grocery shopping, is in general just stuff we established, our own self-made framework of life. It differs from 1st to 3rd world and it differs between cultures. But it’s created by humans and it’s always the same when it comes to defining its role (according to my opinion) in life. They’re tools which I can or must use to pursue my above-mentioned two goals. A job for example, is just a tool to accomplish both of my goals. I don’t argue with saying it can also directly contribute to one of the goals, but in general it’s a tool. Food or acquisition of it is also just a tool to keep my body healthy to be physiologically able to pursue my goals.

Next: determining my set of tools…