A Normal Quiet Life

"I just want to live a normal, quiet life."

 

What is normal, anyway?  What is quiet?

 

'Normal', as in typical?  Fine.  'Normal' as in mundane?  Thanks, but no.

 

'Quiet'??  As in 'no noise', 'no interaction'?  Absolute quiet scares me more than the spotlight.

 

People are meant to deal with one another.  They live, speak, yell, whisper, interact.  If you are going to live your life devoid of human contact (or avoiding it adroitly) then you may as well live inside a glass jar with tubes sticking out of it.

 

Life is for living.  If you don't mix peoples lives around once in a while, they just get stagnant.

 

Life is STRESS.  And you know what?  That isn't always a bad thing.  Stress is what gets us to strive for something, to move, to GO AND DO SOMETHING.  Even on the small scale, the stress of hunger drives us to seek out food.

 

I think it is stress that keeps us alive.

 

Take a couple that has worked all their lives, always stretching for that day of retirement.  They had lists of things to do when that magical day arrived.  The anticipation fueled them onward.

 

One day that couple retires and they DO the things they have been dreaming of.  But eventually their list of things to do runs kind of thin.  But what else is there to strive for?  I've seen it happen many times and it saddens me - the day when a vibrant retired person gives up their goals and suddenly gives up and becomes old.

 

Live your life.  Stretch, strive, and fight for your goals.

 

But always have somewhere else to go when you get there.