Man In Progress Quenching Your Thirst For Knowledge

10 MORE Ways To Kill Your Spirit

photo credit: Oliver Ingrouille [ mr oji ]

Recently a blogger that I follow wrote an inspiring post called the "Top 10 Ways To Kill Your Spirit", and I came up with the notion to produce a sequel. So with his blessing, here goes:

1. Think about the past as much as possible. Your mistakes. Your most embarrassing moments. Live in that world for as many minutes of the day as you can squeeze in, because replaying it over and over is paying such wonderful dividends. Not only do you get to relive the pain every day, but thinking about it really cuts down on the time you have to create new experiences and meaningful relationships in the here and now. Bonus!
2. Don't think about the past at all, EVER. The past is for losers and sentimentalists. Taking a glance back every once in awhile is to be avoided at all costs because it might make you realize that you were wrong on some things. And being wrong means apologizing. And apologizing is a sign of weakness. Maintain the cold war between you and your sick, aging ex because that is preferable to being seen as weak or having to take the time to figure out how to repair a relationship.
3. Compete with friends and family. They are the testing ground for achievement in the real world. Rubbing their noses in your accomplishments is not a matter of your arrogance, it's a matter of their insecurities. You must make them feel as small as possible and then, only then, will you truly feel good about yourself. And feeling good about yourself is what really matters in relationships.
4. Watch reality TV.
   
5. Refuse to tolerate weirdness. People that act and think differently from you are to be shunned, ridiculed, and corrected. They offer nothing of value to a decent society, and give you these occasional, uncomfortable feelings that you might be less intelligent than they are. Eccentrics like Albert Einstein and Salvador Dali could have really been groundbreaking if only they had been normalized at a young age.
6. Work as hard as you can to be liked. You must learn to amputate from yourself any and everything that shows the slightest inkling of originality or independence. Just be like everybody else around you and things will be easier. When the boss tells a racist joke, laugh. When your friends start picking on a co-worker, join in. When your spouse tells you you're looking old, get a face lift. What's most important is not the quality of your relationships but the quantity. What matters is not that you dig yourself but that others dig you (or at least that they dig the pretend you).
7. Drink. A LOT. There's nothing like a nightly 12-pack to take the edge off. Never mind that you can no longer distinguish your dreams from reality, or that your kids' most vivid memory when they grow up will be of you, face down on the floor, unconscious. The point is that it helps you to cope. It gets you from day to day, and a day to day existence is all most people can hope for. Right?
8. Look for the worst in people. You have a gift for quickly identifying others' flaws, and so it behooves you to point them out to anyone that will listen. Not only does this make you feel powerful and perceptive, but it gives you that much-needed daily confidence boost. After all, if someone else has problems, maybe yours aren't so bad after all.
9. Make the pursuit of money your primary goal in life.  So you've had to burn a few bridges, stab a few backs, and miss a few school plays to secure your financial future...big whup.  It's a dog eat dog world and sometimes you have to be ruthless if you want to make a lot of money.  Besides, there's still a 50/50 chance that your estranged son will show up for your funeral, and maybe then he'll finally be sorry for refusing the lavish gifts you've tried to buy his affection with.
10. Forget to laugh.