Day 81:) Prescription for Misery
There may not be sure path for happiness but there is a guaranteed path for misery. In his commencement speech, Charlie shares four prescription with the class of 1986.
a) Be unreliable: If you only master this one habit, you will way ahead in the league. Don’t be faithful in whatever work you are engaged.
b) Learning only from self-experience: One must avoid learning vicariously from the good and bad experience of others, living and dead
c) Go Down and Stay Down: Give up easily in the battle of life
d) Be always one way: Never invert the thing
On graduation day, Drawin would have ranked near the middle of class of 1986, yet he is now famous in the history of science. It reminds me of one of my college friends who still reads sincerely and with more passion daily. Jacob, the great mathematician, said, “Invert always invert.” Many of the hard problems are best solved when they are approached backward. That’s why begin with the end in mind, the invert approach from death bed to present day.
Charles speech was inspired form Johnny Carlson, American host, who was asked in his commencement speech how to be happy. He could not share the principle for happiness, however he put guaranteed path for misery from his personal experience.
1) Ingest chemicals in an effort to alter mood or perception: One must consume alcohol, drugs and other chemicals to light up one’s mood.
2) Envy: One must envy the person sitting next to you instead of learning or making friendship from that person
3) Resentment: Doesn’t anger feel you with more power?
To this day in two decades of my life, I am yet to meet a person who has worsened his/her life by avoiding those chemicals. To put in Charlie’s word, “Addiction can happen to any of us through a subtle process where the bonds of degradation are too light to be felt until when they are too strong to be broken.”
Combing those two adds up to 7 prescription, even if you follow just one of them religiously you can surely achieve a misery life.
If you are looking for the whole speech you can find it here
