The Price Of Insanity

Ross All I'm saying is, if you walk around with a wife-beater and no bra, you're inviting people to stare at your nips.

“You're projecting.”

- Wife Number Two, the Counselor

Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper

After succumbing to the inevitable metabolism death, I underwent The Great Diet Switch . Since that fateful day when I swore off regular sodas, I have rarely to…
The Jew and the Bacon

BLT - hold the L and TI have two bosses, a 49-yr old Korean woman and an 86-yr old Jewish man. The woman is the caring, motherly type that treats…
The Floor Dwellers

People can be divied into two types and it seems as if most women belong to that one group I don't. You know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about…
The Great Cereal Blog

As a child during the 70s, when sugar was cheap and inflation a virtual myth, we were privy to a selection of breakfast cereals that, like 60s rock music, can…
The Hating Of Duke

UNC vs DukeEvery year about this time, legions of ACC fans begin to tingle with excitement. The hardwoods have opened up and college basketball is well underway. Power teams are…
Shirt In Or Out?

Kids always find ways to rebel against older generations. They do it through music and art and hair styles and more obviously, through clothing fashions. For instance, do you tuck…
Steven Seagal is a Dick

Steven Seagal isone of the worst action movie heros of all time (apologies to Chuck Norris). Every movie of his is the same plot with the same moves and the…
Pop Tarts (among other things)

My normal breakfast consists of scarfing down a Pop Tart on my way to the office in the morning. Usually because I'm too lazy to fix something healthy to eat.
Public Booger Mining

The First Knuckle Method.You've seen these people. We all have. The people that engage in some good old fashioned public booger mining.

That's my politically correct term for nose…
An American Dream ... In India

I belong to this company that pays you to accept email ads. It's not too annoying and right now, I have $76 built up in my account. With all the…

The Price Of Insanity

Written by Ross Cavins

Friday, 07 September 2007 01:08

I was telling a friend last night about a movie I'd just seen on IFC, Intacto. It's an amazing foreign film that's totally refreshing and brilliant, especially after being bombarded with a steady barage of predictable Hollywood films. I didn't want to ruin it for him so I just told him of the opening scene and how it began like the movie, The Cooler. The similarity ends after five minutes, and although both movies are good, Intacto was spectacular and cinematic.

When I told him the movie's central theme was luck and the games lucky people play, he interrupted me. He told me the story of his cousin who had a cushy job in the corporate world making six figures. He had it made and after a weekend of playing internet poker, he quit his job. In a few short days, he'd cleared sixty thousand and decided he could do that for a living.

Alice In Wonderland, Choosing Her Insanity.

His whole family told him he was crazy, insane even. He'd lost it, giving up a sweet job making mega-bucks to become a professional gambler. But he'd always played poker, for fun and for small stakes, and he was pretty good at it. He had a system. And more importantly, he won more than he lost.

Now, here's a man with a family and obligations who gives up a steady well-paying job to spend his days gambling. Sounds crazy, right? But let's look at this differently. Don't we gamble every day in some way or another? Isn't riding a bus or hopping a subway or driving a car somewhat of a risk? And nowadays, isn't working for a corporation a form of gambling? Business can change at any moment and any number of people above you on the totem pole can make you and your job redundant.

Is this guy crazy for giving up a "sure bet" to gamble for a living? He loves to play poker and from what I understand, his job left more than a little to be desired, except for the money. With my unscientific calculations, we spend around 40% of our waking lives working a 40-hour a week job. Most of us don't really care for our job, but if you don't like it, why do you do it? For the money? Well, isn't that what this guy was able to do without putting the 40 hours into a crappy job to get it?

He shifted where he spent his time to something he loved doing and not only is he making more of that money stuff, he's having more fun doing it. Isn't that what we all strive for?

I ask you, which situation is more insane? Spending 40% of your waking life doing something you don't care about (which is essentially wasting your time) or spending that same time on a pursuit you love? Who's paying the price of insanity here? The drones living safe mundane lives or the adventurers following their dreams?

Think about it. What is your passion? Can it pay your bills? Are you willing to take the chance to achieve your dreams when your family and friends will label you insane? Step in the light and join us crazies. But I warn you, you'll never see the world the same again.

Tell me, which pill shall you swallow, Alice?

Comments

Add New