Ficlets

The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)

Welcome to life.

Here’s the bad news. You’ve already started to die.

I know, that sounds harsh. But it’s the truth. One day, hopefully a long time from now, you will die. So will I. So will your parents. Your siblings. Your dog.

Why am I being so down at this moment of your triumph? Your literal birth day? Not to depress you. Not to scare you.

No. To reinforce the central message of life:

You only have so much time.

Only so much time with your parents, your siblings. Your dog.

When you’re young, you’ll only wish to be older. Resist it! Enjoy your youth – you only get it once.

When you’re older, you will have choices unimaginable. Who to spend your time with, what job you want, where you want to live. The key to making successful decisions is simple:

Be happy.

No matter where you go and what you do, be happy.

Find people who make you happy. Friends that make you happy. A job that makes you happy.

Everything else…money…success follows from that. And even if it doesn’t, at least you were happy.

Comments

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The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
Writer4Life00nj
Posted 2 months ago

Great job! I really liked it! Great entry! LoA
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
Writer4Life00nj
Posted 2 months ago

Great job! I really liked it! Great entry! LoA
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
Mistress Elsha Hawk
Posted 2 months ago

Awesome entry! Better than mine! I like how you threw in “your dog.” It was nice comic relief in a very serious and yet sweet entry.
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
[pens&feathers]
Posted 2 months ago

Lovely and direct advice.
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
Ana Cristina
Posted 2 months ago

I love the underlying humor that pervades this and the direct, wise message that you are left with at the end of this piece. Awesome work.
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
kwatz
Posted 2 months ago

I suppose that it helps that with two kids, I’d already thought about this scenario long before it was a ficlets challenge. Not that I would tell them this using these exact words (I have some tact), but they’ve already heard the sentiments.

Although my daughter refuses to believe me that it’s more fun to be a kid than an adult.
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
Valley Fey/Pinprick
Posted 2 months ago

I love it.
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
ALRO613 ♪ LoA ♫
Posted 2 months ago

all true!!
i like!
The Secret to Life (Welcome to Life Challenge)
John Perkins
Posted 2 months ago

Ah yes, the true measure of one’s life is how happy we were trudging through it, and how much happiness we spread to others along the way. To steal a quote from Joss Whedon’s “Angel:”
If there is no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters, then all that matters is what we do.