Soul Food
“This is your life, and it’s ending one day at a time.” Tyler Durden's words coming out of my mouth.
A while ago I felt rather disillusioned with life: I had lost sight of where I wanted to go. I think it’s like falling asleep on the bus then waking up and not knowing where you are. You’ve been moving along without keeping track of things, following the route of life:
Stop 1 - School
Stop 2 - University
Stop 3 - Employment
Stop 4 - Retirement
Stop 5 - End of the line
Stop the bus!
I felt I needed to stop the bus, jump off and get my bearings. I wanted to find a landmark to travel to, not just be transported along a life automatic. Research has found that London taxi drivers have enlarged posterior hippocampi* in their brains, a product of having to learn all the roads and tourist hotspots in the city. Bus drivers do not - they just follow the same route every day. I want to engage my brain, not just trudge a well-worn path.
All this got me thinking (not about potential public transport career options) about what I need to satisfy my soul. I think it needs sustenance just like my body. Food packaging states how much of your ‘Recommended Daily Allowance’ a portion provides for. So how about a RDA for my life? What is recommended to make me happy?
Happiness is a transaction away
Today’s society is product driven, with adverts our modern-day prophets. “Turn away from your second-hand car! Cleanse yourself of last season’s clothes!” We’re told happiness is just a transaction away. But if I’m not satisfied with the way things are now, will I be satisfied when I’ve got a beautiful wife, a dream job and a flash car? Am I not constantly reaching for something I can never grasp?
I don’t think happiness is an ever-retreating landmark, rather movement towards a goal I set. A few steps every day and I’m satisfied. This might well include school, university, employment and retirement, but I want to do so on my terms, not because it’s what someone else thinks I should do.
Take it from the Doctor
I read that Dr. William Evans, a founder of the British Heart Foundation in the 1960s once said he thought a man needed to develop proficiency in four things: an occupation, an art, a hobby, and a solitarium. In my disillusionment I adapted this and made a list of the RDAs for my soul. This is what I think I need to do to live:
Tidy my desk every morning 100g
Make a ‘To Do’ list for each day 9kW/hr
Exercise every week 27%
Set aside time for creativity 10kJ
Set aside time for reflection and thinking 7(of which 5 saturates)
I like to tick things off for every week; I know things are going according to my plan. My challenge to you is to decide your own RDAs: to dream big dreams then write down the steps to getting there. Satisfaction might lie not just in achieving those goals, but working towards them.
*For the curious, the hippocampi is a part of the brain that deals with memory and direction.
Written by John Cameron.
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