Several years ago, my friends and I were playing a mobile game which was called “Blood Brothers”, I think. It was a dynamic card collecting game with combat mechanics. It was a very captivating game for us, but it required us to log in at regularly to collect loot and play (stamina recharge with time) at unholy hours. Keeping up with the game caused us to become zombies in our waking hours. It was a free game, but we were paying with blood, sweat and loss of sleep.
When they wanted to leave the game for good, they transferred all their game currency to me. It wasn’t enough to buy any top-tier cards at the time, but it could be done if I just continued to play the game for a few more months. Instead, what I did was to buy some good-tier cards that I liked. After that, I was told “you wasted our blood!“. And rightly so.
Are you wasting your blood?
The blood in you runs from a unbroken chain over 200,000 years ago from the earliest human beings. It has passed from parent to child, over and over again in a human bloodline, until the newest edition – you! Here you are, reading this from your phone or laptop which is yet another marvel of human technology brought to existence through years of human development. We inherit more than we know, and we should be grateful for it, and respect it. Your existence is a miracle over 200,000 years!
Live well
Have you taken good care of yourself? Do you see yourself objectively as a healthy person? If not, what have you done to improve on that? If in this body we live once and only, should we not take good care of it? We definitely should. Sleep well and stick to a consistent cycle, first and foremost. Then take care of your physique through diet and exercise. Everyone has an idea of the fitness level they are comfortable with, but at least you should be able to walk 500 meters without being out of breath.
How do you live such that your blood is not wasted?
Aim above the mediocre. Does your job match the level of your actual competence or are you just skipping by easily? Do you have the time and resources to get further educated, but have not decided to? Have you asked yourself what kind of job you want to be in 5 years from now, and have you taken any step towards that?
Are you getting along well with family and friends? Are your relations with your colleagues friendly, at least? Are you a useful member of society?
To answer for the tremendous gift of our blood, we should aim as high up as we can. Life is ill-spent being bitter, resentful or dilly-dallying around for decades. What kind of life is that? Instead, we should aim to be a good person, a good family member, a good lover, a good friend, a good worker, and whatever roles we play. That’s not easy, and there’s all kind of obstacles to that, but by the blood we possess we should do our best.
Then we should aim to be as useful in work as possible, hopefully in a career that is meaningful and brings some sort of happiness or assurance to other people. Think beyond bread and butter – which is of course damn important – to joy and meaning through your work. If life is a circle, fill it as full as you possibly can.
Don’t waste your blood.
