The Fat Years Are Over, and That’s Good News
Stop talking about your passions and happiness for a while. There are more important things in life.
A professor puts some golf balls into an empty jar, asking the class if the jar is full. When getting puzzled faces instead of an answer, the professor adds a handful of pebbles into the jar, repeating his question to the class. Still no answer. He then pours sand into the jar, carefully shaking it for the sand to fill the space between the golf balls and the pebbles.
Now, the professor says: “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. Golf balls are the important things: your family, your friends, your health, your passions. The pebbles are other important things: your car, your job, your home. The sand is everything else, just small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, you won’t have room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same is true with life: If you spend all your energy and your time on the small stuff, you won’t have time for all the really important things that matter to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.”
It’s a feel-good story, urging people to focus on what makes them happy. There is nothing wrong with it.
But think of the superstorm our society is approaching: climate change, war in Europe, energy crisis, and a lingering pandemic. Is it right to call your passions a golf ball, and your job and your home pebbles?
With the fat years being over for at least some time, let’s have a look at that classic Maslow pyramid again:
The golf balls of the years to come will be food, shelter, security, energy, and employment. If we have the capacity, let’s add education to the golf ball list.
Forget your passions and your happiness for a while.
Do I advocate a fun-free life of hardship? Of course not. But when I was a kid back in the 1980s, my parents would often tell me to do my work before having fun. And that’s exactly what we have to do in today’s society. Let’s do our work before we are having fun. And there is plenty of work to do.
Getting rid of fossil energies.
Rebuilding our defense capabilities.
Overcoming polarization in politics.
Fighting inflation.
Preparing for the next pandemic.
Making sure our lights stay on next winter.
So why in heaven do I say that it’s good news that the fat years are over? Because we all need to focus on progressing society instead of individual happiness. All the areas mentioned above can only be advanced through joint efforts. None of them can be achieved by an ego-centric individual.
Nevertheless, when you come home from a full day of hard work to drive the change our society needs, there is nothing wrong with sitting back and enjoying a glass of wine with your spouse or a beer with your friends.
Read all my articles on crisis management!
Join my mailing list to receive an update whenever I publish a new article!