The idea of this post is to identify the suckers versus the non-suckers in this life, who belongs in which category, and why. In my definition, as I will outline below, just about everyone will be able to find their place among one of these two categories.
Let's begin by defining the most common-place way by which a person is identifed as a sucker. A person who gets taken advantage of, duped, fooled, or otherwise believes something that is not true, with the result of this untruth affecting the person adversely. I apply this definition here to those who simply believe something that is untrue, or does not create the ideal situation for their existence. To those people, the simple term ignorance is bliss applies.
Most people who lead "normal" existences go to school, college, get a job, get married, have kids, retire, move to Miami, and its curtains for them. Other people, like many of my high school friends, take a different path, drop out, abuse alcohol, try drugs, don't find a job, and generally don't care about anything except finding a slice of happiness in doing nothing.
What makes me think twice about my life, as being a normal existence kind of guy, is what is our purpose in being here? Are we part of some grand experiment as described in the Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy? Or is there some other supreme purpose we fill in going about doing what we do? The best conclusion I have been able to come up with is this: our purpose here is to spawn and raise offspring, to keep the human race in continuance, and to try to enjoy ourselves as much as possible in achieving this.
This brings me back to the two types of people identified above. People that drop out, don't get a job, etc. they may be parasites living off the earnings of relatives, but they may have a good handle on what life is all about, an insight that eludes many of us in life. While on the one hand I dislike people willing to do this to others, to bleed money off others to preserve their own existence, but I also wonder if it is just laziness that permits them to continue to live this way day in and day out. Why worry if there are others to worry for you?
What a concept: sit on your ass everyday, and be happy doing it. That may be something. And they may be doing a better job of living their lives than those of us that don't: they are enjoying themselves and making themselves happy.
Granted, many people love what they do, and are driven and career-minded, so that their livelihood is what preserves their happiness. For others, it is simply having a family. But what about the heroin addict that lives his life looking for and eagerly anticipating his next fix? Yeah, his life may suck some serious ass in between his smack fixes, but when he's got it, whew, he's got a happiness and satisfaction that most will never understand.
So is he an addict, a sucker living a shitty existence? Who are we to judge from our "normal" existence standpoints? We think we're so great, going to work and school everyday, getting married and having kids, with the end of our lives approach like a runaway train in the middle of the night that we never stop to see coming because we are too busy following the footsteps of conventionality to contemplate what would happen if we strayed from the beaten path.
Often in our careers we lose sight of the big picture and become disillusioned with what we do on a daily basis. At times like this, one must wonder what the hell they are doing with their lives. At times like this, consider if you are a sucker. You're Joe Schmoe, you work 9 to 5, you make your paycheck, and you try to have fun and relax on weekends. You mock or sadly shake your head at those you consider to be less fortunate because they don't have jobs. What are we missing? Because maybe they feel the same way about us, because we do what we're "supposed" to do.
Don't be a sucker. Life is short and there are many many experiences to be had. It's been said that a man who knows what it feels like to walk a mile in another man's shoes rules the world. Discover what you've been missing. Leave no stone unturned in your search for meaning in a life without meaning. Find out why experience is the best teacher, and happiness will seek you out in your quest.