Days of our lives

Last weekend, my friends and I had a get together at my place. For the first few hours, our conversations kept going and we were having a lot of fun. The next day, after the hangover set in the horizon, I wondered - we were not talking about sports or girls or politics, but still the conversations were very interesting and engaging - how come?. Then it struck me - we had been talking about how we went about our daily lives. Dropping kids to school, making calls to the insurance companies, taking our cars for service et al. Also of note - none of us were leading particularly interesting lives. All of us called our lives mechanical, hated the daily grind and were of the opinion that life nowadays has become too robotic.

But is it really that mundane? If it were, how come ramblings about it are so interesting? How come it evokes so much laughter and excitement? Yeah, that's my point. Our lives are are not even close to mundane. By we, I mean the middle class, the working fabric of nations everywhere and people who by and large make up the biggest pie of the term "populace". We don't solve rocket science problems, do not hold bilateral discussion between countries or don't enact a scene that can get an Oscar nomination. Yet, for us, no day is like the previous, and what is to come is totally different from what was.

Can you imagine a favorite TV show or a movie that was not about ordinary folks? What would TV shows like Friends or Seinfeld look like if all of the characters were super rich? What would they talk about - How they lost money in the stock market? Come on, give me a break! The lives of ordinary people, in contrast, have lot more spice and flavor churned from their daily struggles to fix things and their effort to keep the wheels turning - kids education, insurance compliance, getting dates, figuring out when to get engaged (or get married) to their sweetheart etc. It's not that the wealthy don't have to do this, but they don't have to tie these to any successfully goal completions - like a bonus, a promotion or a tax refund.

Case in point - Before we call our lives too ordinary, robotic and mundane, let us reflect on it and recognize it for what it really is. It is the fuel that keeps us on the run, the tunnel that we keep building and the journey we keep on planning. In retrospect, we will find out that it was anything but boring - kind of like how we cherish our childhood and college days after we are done with those. So let us enjoy the day as it happens, take in the view as we drive through the journey, pause, and take time to smell the roses.

Flashbacks can never take you to the real thing, so enjoy the moment while you are in it and remember not to rush through the "Daily Grind". Just make sure you are armed with the best grinder available.

P.S. If you are a very rich person reading this, discard all of what you have read and contact me ASAP - I have a really good idea on how to start a great company with your money.