A True Life

Life is not static, thus the art of living keep on evolving. My way of life is not the same as 10 years ago, though some of the old values still remain. I usually do a yearly review of what I had done for the past year, and followed by a New Year resolution on what I should do next. I have some left over ideas from last year, but I felt the lack the determination to push forward this year. To truly understand what I should set out to accomplish this coming year, I probably have to understand myself better, or how I had changed.

I believed I have probably a few guiding principles in life, or some new principles I would like to adopt lately, perhaps from there I could learn a thing or two about what I want to do:

• Life should be lived without regrets.
• Work is not an isolated part of life, where we sacrifice our passion and soul for money; it should be meaningful and fulfilling.
• Enjoyment of life shall not be delayed until retirement; it’s supposed to happen every now and then.
• The ability to admit mistake and weakness is priceless.
• I wanted to be a programmer for life: the ability to create is priceless.
• Life should have time to do various things besides work, watch movie and sleep; to try hardware hacking, to go hiking, to build on stupid but fun ideas, to play games, to travel to new places …
• Life should be free: free from the burden of money, free from the chores which doesn't interest us, free from bureaucracy and claws of social expectations, free from worldly possessions.
• The ability to sustain a business is priceless, but the effort to milk more money out of it could spoil the game; if you can, don’t take venture money.
• Imagination and Dream should not be absent from life as we grow older.

When I was young, I wanted to become a millionaire by the age of 30, and I am willing to work my ass off to achieve that. I still have the millionaire dream, but I am not willing to work my ass off and sacrifice plenty of time to achieve that. I wanted a life.

What is a life? Life is living it truthfully, doing what we really want to do, and the end result is fulfillment. I might just feel like laze around for a week, but there isn't any fulfillment out of it; I might require some rest, which is fine. When I choose to do something, or not to do something, there should be a great sense of “rightness” for making that decision, which should lead to a better life. I probably quit my employment life because too much time is wasted doing meaningless things, for the meager amount of money which could not lead to the life I wanted. Freelancing is slightly better because I don’t have to do stupid things like in a bureaucratic environment, but it still lacks the sense of satisfaction. When I finally get to build things I truly wanted to create, I felt really happy; when the things I build make some money, it’s a great consolation. I knew employment and freelancing would bring me more money in the short term, but I am pretty sure I won’t be happy or satisfied. I need to do work which fulfill the life which I desire: not necessary making millions to support my luxurious early retirement, but making work doesn't feel like work, but work of fun and fulfillment.

I want a true life, and I should do things which shall enable me to have such a life. I shall continue building what I always set out to build, and I shall work on a few stupid ideas which make me happy, and I should try a few things which I always wanted to try. Lack of time is not an excuse.

In 2013, I shall:

• Build something which enable people to enjoy travel and eating
• Attend a few hardware hacking sessions at MakeKL
• Work on a few stupid ideas
• Not sure I can squeeze some time to make a game
• Take 2 months off to travel around
• Living a true life

May everyone find peace and meaning in their life :)