Are you doing well? Do you feel that each day is as fulfilling as it can be? Is your life what you dreamt of?
The name behind this website comes from a quote attributed to the great psychologist Dr Victor Frankl (1905 – 1997). As he tried to teach us the meaning of life, he modified a saying from Immanuel Kant, and he said:
“Live as if you were living for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!”
Live your Second Life now
Sometimes Life isn’t all that good. You didn’t make the best choices. Maybe you haven’t achieved much. Was not the most pleasant spouse / sibling / child / friend / colleague and whatever role you play in Life. You wonder if this is all you were ever gonna be, if this is all you ever could get. At other times, Life is downright unsatisfying.
The good news is that you can change while you are still alive (obviously, since you’re reading this). What then would be the most meaningful things to change?
Try to be a good, honest person
Happy people have stable relations with lots of people. The first one is the family you got – your parents and siblings. And the next is the family you make- spouse and kids. And next, your close friends.
Good people naturally draw people in. And that is not easy, and I suspect you understand that being a good person is far from easy. You got to keep your temper down, and choose to do good over what’s convenient every time, and take all those time and effort to maintain all the relations that make up the center of your life. Sometimes it’s easier to give in, just be lazy, and say the offending words that should have remained in your mind. Right the wrongs while you still can.
The key to all these is honesty. One easy word. Not so easy to maintain. Some people do choose to live their life lying and manipulating ; it sucks to be them.
Become useful in more ways than one
Being a good person is not even good enough. This is the real world, and ‘nice’ won’t cut it ; you need to be useful to other people in order to remain in their lives. No one wants a parasite around for long. This is how all manners of human and animal societies has been for a very long time.
One of the first way is through meaningful work, if you can go for that. Realistically, not everyone will get to do fulfilling work, but if you can make enough to support yourself and others, then it’s good enough for now. Within your chosen line of work, be as good in your job as you possibly can be, because as least your work matters in supporting your family lifestyle.
If you can get a better job, go for it. If you can’t get a good job, take some courses. Invariably, the best paying jobs are often the most difficult. That also makes your mastery at it all the more meaningful.
Your life can be better. Live as though you were living for the second time.
