On humans and illusions of control

I am listening to a pretentious suit pontificate on how to make it in life.

"The secret to success is .... " I stop listening now.

I am thinking:

This speaker has no idea what he's talking about it - like most of us.

He's just the one brave enough to make a fool of himself. And perhaps sometimes it's all that it takes.

See, someone is paying him for this performance. He earns influence, cash or something else. There is no free cheese.

"So what's your purpose?"

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"What are your short and long term goals? (Meh)"

All these are questions we ask, and answer to deceive ourselves into an illusion of control. You are thinking right now about your answer, I imagine.

Newsflash: whatever you are thinking about is wrong. And you won't know that until five years from now. It's why it's all so sad.

Reality crawls up behind you like a beady-eyed uncle on a night mum and dad are absent and goes: "BOO!."

Your five-year plan makes you feel like you have your life absolutely, 100% together.

Bah.

You don't.

No one knows what they are doing. All we have is the task we got. We should be kicking ass at them and then see where they lead us.

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90% of the jobs we now have didn't exist few years ago. So you didn't have this all planned out.

We are all led along a path willy-nilly. The universe is a passive-aggressive dictator who is repressive and liberal at the same time.

The good (or evil) we get are results of unmerited cosmic odds. To make the best of what life places on our laps is the only real choice. And that's what will make all the difference. That’s why hard work makes sense even in a plane of existence where the universe cannot the defied nor coerced.

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Only stupid fools and dead people don't change their minds. So perhaps in five years I'll have a different view. But right now, don't ask me about my five-year plan.

I have a plan for right now. Right now, I want to publish this and go eat oatmeal.

You are in control of right now. Your actions and inactions. But not the future.

You are tired of your job. Move.

You are tired of your job but you know leaving will send your family to the streets and leave you in the throes of hunger. Give yourself brain and stick around.

Let's stop pretending like we can figure this shit out. Let's stop pretending that we have. We haven't and we won't.

You have no job controlling the future. Give God his job back.

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Ps. You have the right to disagree with me here and I'd like you to. This brain dropping came from a long-running skepticism I carry for people who like to portray the fantasy of control. I am learning that our dreams and missions are a product of the social canvas on which our reality is painted. And that continues to expand.  When that canvas expands, our understanding of the world and the idea of what we can accomplish do the same. So every time we meet someone new, we set off a reaction that expands our social canvas and updates our dreams.