Life on a Beach

Jordan Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life, was interviewed by Joe Rogan on one of his many, many podcasts that I happened to listen to on a run one day. On this particular podcast, something that Dr. Peterson said stuck with me.

He described how movies portray the heroine or hero at the end of a story relaxing with a drink and perhaps a lover on some exotic beach somewhere. This seems to be something we strive for in life, to one day kick back on a gorgeous beach, financially independent, and drink margaritas all day every day for the rest of our lives.

How long could you sit there before you would have to grab your phone and take a picture of your activity to share on social media? Wasn’t the moment enough?

How much longer could you lie there drinking margaritas until you were sick of margaritas? What would be your next drink?

How long until you were bored out of your mind?

There is only so much you can do at the beach. Play a pick-up game of beach volleyball. Get into the water for a while; maybe surf if the tide is right. Go to the tiki hut and get a few shots of tequila. Bask in the sun with your drink and make some friends on social media jealous. Take a long walk up and down the beach. Snap pictures of the sunset and sunrise if you can get up that early. Repeat a few of these at random.

Pretty soon, you’ll start to feel something is missing.

There probably isn’t one of us that would feel sorry for an individual in such a dilemma. There are probably very few of us that wouldn’t take up the opportunity to be able to live so care free without any kind of financial worry. We would most likely be willing to tackle this type of problem rather than the ones we all face each day.

The point is that life on a beach isn’t really what you think it is, and you could possibly be closer to that kind of life (if you wanted) than you think.

Featured Photo by eriK. on Unsplash