The Tombstone Test — A Simple Trick to Ensure You’re Not Wasting Your Life
Sometimes we’ve got our priorities all wrong
Let me put my life-coach pants on for a moment and pretend I’m not as clueless as everyone else about this wild ride around the sun we call life.
Ugh… Hrmmpff… Aaargh…
Crap. The pants don’t fit. Anypoo, I still have some wisdom to share.
You see, I’ve spent much of my life pursuing goals to prove that I’m worthwhile. I’ve worked on my shaggability by counting calories, eating nothing but egg whites, and lifting dumbbells until my tendons became as frayed as if my dog had chewed on them. I’ve spent years of my life trying to become smart by looking down on fiction books because “they don’t teach you anything.” I’ve tried to excel at school out of some sense of duty towards my parents and teachers. I’ve even gotten a PhD that’s now as useful to me as high heels to a walrus.
And although I don’t regret any of that — except maybe the chewed tendons — I can’t help but look at these goals with the wisdom of my first gray hair and wonder if they’ve been worthwhile. What’s worse, I now have the same doubts about my current goals. Am I chasing what matters? Or are my priorities all wrong?
