How to Live and Not Merely Exist
Three Steps You Can Take to Live Life to Its Fullest
Jack London is known for his deep and insightful thinking. Although he only lived a short life of 40 years, he made his life worth it by pursuing what he loved despite his suffering.
Jack London is also known for the famous quote heard at the end of the most recent Bond film. He states:
“The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.”
The quote stuck with me for a long time because there are many layers to it. Although we are always in a state of being alive, it can sometimes feel as though we are simply letting our lives go by.
Our lives can become very repetitive, and we may get stuck in a place of no progression. So, it can sometimes feel like our lives are somewhat irrelevant and not as meaningful.
Jack London also has a point concerning prolonging our days. I could not tell you the number of times I wished there were more hours in the day. Self-improvement and productivity articles are constantly trying to prolong your days.
They give you advice like waking up early or making a to-do list. These actions are meant to leave us with more free time to pursue the things we desire.
However, they can often leave us busier than before as we “grind” harder. In this profound quote, Jack London highlights that it is not the length of time that counts but how we use it. And how we use our time will determine whether we are living or merely existing.
For a long time, I was caught in a loop of mere existence. Even though I was doing things I thought I wanted to, my life still did not feel amazing. My daily routine kept me busy, and I would constantly be looking at the clock.
However, upon reflecting on this quote, I learned that the life many of us truly want is not too far away. In fact, it is here right now if you really want it. And it starts with using your time, not merely chasing after it.
So, here are the three steps I took to truly start living my life. And you may just be surprised how simple they are.
1. Be Honest With Yourself
We compromise much over our lifetime. It may be for family or friends, or potentially for your future self. But compromising becomes something we get used to, and it is a terrible cycle to find oneself in.
For the most part, our compromises seem understandable. For example, taking time off work to see your son play football would be a reasonable compromise. However, what about taking on a project at work you know you would dislike?
Of course, we can not have everything our way, but we can get into the habit of believing that everything we have is what we always wanted. And this is a dangerous place to find ourselves.
As a student studying engineering, I spent much of my time telling myself this is what I wanted to do. I had a good job lined up at the end of my degree, and my family were proud of me. So, why else would I not want it?
However, not being honest to myself led me to a life of merely existing. I did not wake up feeling energised, and neither did I have hope for my days. I was stuck doing things I did not want to do for a future I believed I wanted.
It was only when I confronted myself for lying, I saw what I had done to my life. For the pursuit of a high paying job and status, I left my passion for writing and philosophy.
When we are honest with ourselves, we can see clearly the compromises we made in our lives that have left us worse off. We tend to convince ourselves at the time that the things we have now are what we really want. But in doing this, we live a life that is not true to ourselves.
So, think about areas in your life where you are not practising honesty to yourself. These are the areas that often hold deep regret, but can also unlock the life you always wanted.
2. Take Action
All the time we spend being dishonest to ourselves we lose. Unfortunately, we can never get that time back and will never know what our lives could have been. However, we still have time now, and that is the whole point.
I used to spend much of my time in the present telling myself that I will take action once I have the time. Instead of taking action in the present, I would delay it for another time.
Although it is nice to believe that potentially we will have time to do things we always wanted, that is not always the case. In fact, there are probably many people saying the same thing you are and have been saying.
If we want to live and not merely exist, we must take action today. And that means choosing to take advantage of the time you have, not the time you hope to have.
By no means does this allow you to neglect your future for the present. But it does allow you to value the time you have now equal to the time you believe you will have.
Many of us value our futures more than we value our present. And it is a natural thing to do because progression happens in the forward direction. However, there is also much value in where you are today. So, take time to seize the opportunities you have now.
3. Appreciate Who You Are
Finally, we do not take a lot of time out of our days to truly acknowledge who we are. We are unique, and all possess traits within us that can lead to the happiness of others.
Once you are honest with yourself and take action to live the way you want to, you will find that many may fail to understand you. When I chose to live, I lost a few friends, and some family members no longer speak to me as often.
Not because I have offended them, but because I have chosen to not waste my time. Instead, I have chosen to live in full appreciation of the person I am. And for many, this is a hard thing to do.
We grow up valuing the opinions of others and compromise ourselves until we become a ball of existence. We merely exist in someones else’s story, business or family. However, what if we took the courage to write our own stories, build our own things and start living the way we wanted to? What would life look like then?
To get there, we must tackle this final step. And that is to truly appreciate who we have become. You can do this by simply giving yourself a smile in the mirror every day. Take time to acknowledge your accomplishments, and be grateful that you still have time to live.
So, what are you waiting for? Be honest to yourself, take action and appreciate the person you are. In doing so, you are choosing life. But not just any life, the life you truly want to live.
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