You've won life if you're a beautiful person at the end of it [Discussion]

Submitted by TreatThompson t3_10g788x in GetMotivated

The victory of life is ending it as a beautiful person.

Being beautiful is about who you are—your character, spirit, and what you've done hopefully add up to a beautiful person.

If you can go through decades of negative temptations and influences, unfortunate circumstances, and devastating events, and still come out the other end with a great character, a positive spirit, and a body of work you're proud of, then that's a win.

In this sense, life is a battle of resilience and stamina.

How long can you maintain your character, spirit, and creativity while enduring the cards life deals us?

Ursula Le Guin and Maria Popova put it well

>“For old people, beauty doesn’t come free with the hormones, the way it does for the young… It has to do with who the person is.” Another way to say this is that to become a person worthy of old age is the triumph of life.

When Henry Miller turned 80, he realized that triumph of life is being able to…

>fall in love again and again… forgive as well as forget… keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical.”

Simone De Beauvoir wrote something similar

>Life is largely a matter of how we hold ourselves — our hearts, our fears, our forgivenesses — along the procession of the years.

**********

This post was from my newsletter

I share ideas from great thinkers so we can stand on the shoulders of giants, instead of figuring life out alone

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Comments

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TreatThompson OP t1_j50ybv6 wrote

The part that sticks out to me the most is the concept of “being worthy of old age”

I guess it can mean a lot of things to different people

I think i’ll be worthy of old age if I haven’t been tainted with negativity by the time I get there—if I still have a positive spirit, can have fun and be creative

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ricardo9505 t1_j514yr1 wrote

As I learned in Sunday School decades ago, a concept that freaked me out til I got older and understood it, "Memento Mori". A "good life" means different things to different ppl. Honor is a concept that my dad used a lot.

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TreatThompson OP t1_j5164kp wrote

Replying to ricardo9505 (#1,407,855)

Memento mori can definitely make us uneasy on the surface, but is powerful when truly understood

Thanks for sharing that! I like the sentiment of a good life meaning different things to different people

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Josh-Greene t1_j51s35i wrote

Beautifully expressed! Thanks for sharing :)

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synthjunkie t1_j51xip6 wrote

In that case, I've already failed and not even half way lol

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justasmalltowndad t1_j52ryei wrote

I've always thought that the amount of people at your funeral is like your actual stat points that you've achieved in life.

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Akihiro_Tanizaki t1_j53bjws wrote

Don't ever delete this. We need more people like you in our lives to remind us of true value.

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SewCarrieous t1_j53gyqs wrote

I think this is another misuse of the word beautiful. There are so many better words to chose here

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Akihiro_Tanizaki t1_j53h1m6 wrote

Replying to TreatThompson (#1,412,726)

I subscribed to your newsletter, I honestly appreciate the work you are doing. I will be working alongside you hoping I too reach old age not tainted by bitterness and the works.

Hopefully I can become a positive influence to the people around me, because I don't bother reaching out anymore. Thank you for your post *and the reply.

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TreatThompson OP t1_j53iiov wrote

Replying to Akihiro_Tanizaki (#1,413,038)

Wooo 🥳 glad to have you join, I’m sure if you enjoyed this post you’ll love what’s to come

Definitely feel free to reply to the issues with any thoughts or commentary, I love discussions about these things!

Again, thanks for the kind words :) and good luck

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Six_Kills t1_j53j3iu wrote

What about people who feel that they have tainted their character irredeemably? Can such people still "win"? Or have they already lost? In that case, should they take their lives or simply forget about "winning" and dedicate their lives to chaos?

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Akihiro_Tanizaki t1_j542tpi wrote

Replying to SewCarrieous (#1,413,200)

I'd contend the issue lies in the perspective and not on the word.

Beauty, is everywhere.

It's in the little rabbits frolicking in my front yard. It's in the unobstructed wild view of the mountains. It's in the giggles of my true love as she explains her seemingly meaningless day to day happenings of spilling some milk over her t-shirt. It's in the realization of how really well off I actually am (even though my brain will often tell me otherwise).

We who live in peace & abundance often get lost in the hustle. We lose sight of what life actually is about through the chasing of our "dreams". Beauty simply is appreciation. Not a destination.

Anything you take time to genuinely appreciate is something beautiful to you.

Spend excess time, and that appreciation turns into something ugly.

Something moldy.

Something that eventually takes over every facet of your life and becomes this radioactive spore that hurts and spreads misery to (expected &) unexpected people in your life.

Bad people, bad situations, bad trends, bad etc. will always exist. But circumstances don't define us. We decide what kind of person we want & ascribe to be, who we want to see in the world; and if all you see is obsession and cannot appreciate (a beautiful comment, a beautiful view, a beautiful moment) beauty, you should take some steps back and re-evaluate if there is any area in your life or mindset that has become a problem. We dont need to become obsessed with what terrible people do. We don't have to let that become everything.

We believe what other people do matters most but it doesn't. What you do, matters most. Because you make up the collective.

Nothing is more increasingly worse than a beautiful but inactive mind. The silent collective.

Don't let the mistakes of others, or your own, prevent you from embracing your potential and passing on your knowledge, your value, and your happiness onto others. It doesn't take much time out of your day to do so either (or that grand of a gesture).

And that's the beauty of it.

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Akihiro_Tanizaki t1_j543vox wrote

Replying to Six_Kills (#1,413,168)

I don't mean to reply to everyone but I saw your comment on my way out.

All I can say my friend is that as long as you have life, you can change. Other people cannot determine whether you are or are not redeemable. Even if your past actions are not.

You cannot change who you were yesterday, but you can decide today how you will make up for your ill actions.

Victory is winning over your past & present demons, not giving into them.

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wildland_shitbag t1_j54czy2 wrote

I'm only in my mid twenties but something I've noticed getting older is how insanely negative most people are. They justify hating most people or just let little things get to them. I aspire to not fall into that mental trap. It's such a relief to meet somebody that is positive, nice and caring It's so rare anymore.

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ChaseHarker t1_j5a30u1 wrote

I’m heading to the internment of the most wonderful Aunt and woman anyone could ask for! This will be shared with all♥️

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