Dazed and Confused

So I didn’t really have a topic for today’s blog planned; I’ve been really lazy lately and this is just another example.  Anyway, I found these questions on a blog that promises “practical tips for productive living.”  The questions are designed to provoke thought and they sounded fairly interesting so here we go:

1.       What is it like to wake up every morning and pretend that you aren’t dying?  I wake up every morning aware that I am dying.  I think about death a lot, probably more than I should.  It is my number one fear.

2.      Do you believe in the death penalty?  Absolutely not.  The legal system is not fool proof and the thought of condemning an innocent man to die is sickening.

3.      If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?  That person would be my best friend forever!  Finally, someone who understands me J.

4.      Would you rather be rich and paralyzed from the waist down or poor and able bodied?  Hmm, maybe I could use my riches to discover a cure for my paralysis.  Nah, I was poor and able bodied for the first 23 or so years of my life and I’ve kind of gotten use to it.

5.       What’s the most expensive gift you have ever received?  Is it the best gift you have ever received?  Hmm, to make this easier on myself I’m going to go with the most expensive Christmas/birthday gift, which if I’m not mistaken was my Philadelphia Flyers jersey given to me by my little sister.  I don’t know if I would call it the best gift I’ve ever received but it’s certainly up there.

6.      When was the last time you lied?  Is it possible to lie without saying anything at all?  The last time I lied was today.  I fudged the time it took me to get to and from my client meeting so I could have an extra long lunch, which is a perfect example of lying without saying anything at all.

7.       Stealing is immoral, right?  But what if stealing was the only way to feed a starving child?  Stealing is immoral…unless you’re talking about my justice khakis.

8.      If I gave you $20, what percentage would you – really – save?  If I gave you $200,000, what percentage would you save?  Should there be a difference?  I would blow the $20 on food or new clothes or books.  I would save most of the $200,000, maybe use a small amount for a kickass vacation.

9.      If someone could tell you the exact day and time that you are going to die, would you want them to tell you?  No, I prefer to be blissfully ignorant.

10.   If you found out you were going to die today, would you have any regrets?  Would you be happy with the way you spent the last 24 hours of your life?  I would have a ton of regrets; places I’d never been, food I’d never tasted, things that went unsaid to people who mean more to me than I could ever explain or admit.  The last 24 hours of my life were wasted at work and sitting home alone.

11.    What’s your single greatest moment of personal failure?  Looking back on it now, did it make you weaker or stronger?  What did you learn?  This is a little personal.  Suffice it to say that it involves a fairly big lie(s) to someone very important.

12.   Do the words ‘freedom’ and ‘liberty’ mean not being persecuted or discriminated against, or do they mean doing whatever you please?  To me they mean having the ability to do what you want, as long as it doesn’t hurt others or hinder their ability to do what they want.

13.   Have you ever discriminated against someone?  I’m sure I have.  As a child I thought black people were made out of chocolate.

14.   Is it crazier to choose to be poor or to spend 40 years of your life hating 40 hours a week?  It is crazier to be poor.  I grew up watching my dad work 2 full-time jobs just to scrape by and be miserable.  At least if you’re making good money working a 40-hour-a-week job you have the funds to do some fun stuff.

15.    Do you ever feel like you don’t have enough time?  How many hours a week do you spend watching TV, or playing video games, or…?  I constantly feel like I don’t have enough time, especially during the weekends.  Haha, I wonder what the “or…” is referring to.  I’m not going to tell you how often I do “that”. 

16.   Do you ever celebrate the green lights?  Yes, by stepping on the gas!

17.    If you could be given another talent or ability, what would you want it to be?  Have you ever – really – tried to perfect this ability in yourself?  I’ve always wanted to be able to play the guitar.  I got one, along with a Dummies Guide for Christmas.  It is not going well.  If I’m not immediately good at something I tend to give up.

18.   No matter how bad things get, are you aware that someone always has it worse than you do?  Yes, but when things get bad I get selfish and tend to focus on me, which I realize sounds terrible, but hey, I’m only human.

19.   When you help someone, do you ever think, “What’s in it for me?”  Not consciously, but I’m aware that when I help people it causes them to perceive me in a positive light, which is important to me.  I want people to like me.

20.  Joy is found with simple awareness.  What does your joy look like today?  Today my joy looks like Scramble with Friends!

21.   What’s the difference between ‘living’ and ‘existing?’  Everyone exists, not everyone lives.

22.  Are you willing to sacrifice the life of your child or lover to support a war?  No. 

23.  Do you ask enough questions, or do you settle for what you know?  I like to think that I’m a fairly inquisitive person.

24.  If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?  I would change quite a few things. 

25.   If your life was a novel, what would be the title and how would your story end?  It would be called Dazed and Confused and since a novel is fiction, it would end with me making out with Natalie Portman in the rain.