I have been attending some free thinkers meet up near our area and during the last session a question was placed on the discussion table for participants to respond to: “Name three things that you wish you have learned about sooner in life”.
I chewed on the inquiry for a while and held back contributing to the discussion mainly because it was great listening to the life lessons shared and quite frankly, I felt my three items were too bland to be shared to the entire group.
But since one of my three items does have something to do with “atheism”, I will share it instead here. So here goes, three things I wish I learned about sooner in life:
1. Being Health Conscious. I do not drink nor do I smoke. Still, prior to my last operation, I didn’t care for cholesterol content, how much calories a particular food has or whether it was fast tracking my life to the grave. I hated vegetables and wouldn’t be caught devouring anything green and leafy. The only exercise I had was typing on a keyboard and eating fast. I’m fortunate enough though that in spite that reckless abandon lifestyle, I have not blown up to the size of a blimp and have maintained a relatively healthy appearing physique. But after that colon cancer scare I had a few years back, I’ve started running, mountain biking and eating sensibly. Still in spite of that, I do feel that my metabolism has really slowed down and that possibly all those cheese burgers I had back then are starting to cash out. Hopefully it’s not too late, but damn I should have given vegetables a chance during my early years.
2. Free Thinking. During the last Freethinkers Meeting, I was actually asked to facilitate the next meet up session. I had to respectfully decline. Not that I just didn’t want to, but because I feel I have nothing to offer at this point as far as facilitating a free thinking discussion goes. One of the main reasons I joined the group was to learn and help me catch up on new ideas and concepts. And that’s one of the regrets I have in life probably. I feel I have been too boxed up all these years and never went out of my way to chase opportunities to talk with intellectuals, have thought exercises and explore other beliefs apart from Christianity. I honestly feel so way behind when varying concepts and ideas are discussed and at times have no idea who the authors and famous freethinkers being referenced are.
I’ve been thinking of a third, but honestly can’t come up with one. Quite frankly, I am very content with my life in spite the above mentioned regrets. I know my life could be better and it’s probably a crap hole in comparison to how comfortably some people live. But I’ve made had a lot of little accomplishments and back when I was a theist, I constantly thanked God for blessing me the life I have because I feel after marrying the woman I love and having a beautiful daughter with her, what I have right now is more than I feel I deserve.
Come to think of it, I may have more than just two regrets in my life, but they are significantly outweighed by the things I’ve been fortunate enough to have and experience. And it scares me that what I have right now may not have been made possible if not for those imperfections and mistakes I’ve made.
So to make ammends for item 2, I am making an effort to set aside some time to hang around with free thinkers and listen in on different view points so that I may formulate my own and perhaps one day share or even facilitate discussions. And as for item 1, I am indeed trying to eat healthy, excercise and be more cautious of calorie intake, but I wonder if there is indeed a God, why didn't he make vegetables taste more like porterhouse steak?
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