What do you want? This is a reminder.

some_lame_kid

This may not be Godot related, go ahead and take it down if you think it shouldn't be here. This may also not be for the faint-hearted.

A string of unfortunate events mixed with my depressing music taste reminds me daily how little time I have here. This isn't depression, it's motivation for me. We all get lazy, forget why we're doing the things we do, and if you're like me, you don't like the idea of wasting daylight. I've seen people not even notice until the sun's already setting on their life. So for anyone like me, I want a thread or discussion to talk about what we want to do before we die, or who we want to be.

fire7side

I used to think I wanted to travel around the world on a motorcycle. Then I saw these videos of a young woman doing it and all the hassles going across borders and I decided just taking short motorcycle trips around home was pretty good. Put God first and take care of my health as much as possible. I want to go all at once, not a little bit at a time.

duane

I've already done some things that people tend to put down for goals. I've traveled extensively. I wrote a novel. I've got more the the usual share of education. I put some money in the bank. I was a true believer for a while, then thought better of it. I'm frequently amazed at how much I've learned, and annoyed by how much I still don't know.

Life forces some imperatives on you -- eat, sleep, reproduce, etc. It's basic stuff, but we can all agree on it as a goal. However, having a complex brain complicates things. We're reasoning creatures, so the only real goals we have are what we make for ourselves. Goals issued to us by decree don't really inspire us to work.

So what's worth doing? I think it's all but provable that increasing happiness and reducing pain are worthwhile. Most living things avoid pain, so it's a fairly universal drive. You could spend your life trying to cure diseases, or build technology that will help your children (and others) to live better lives. That's complicated stuff, and I'm not sure I have enough time left to even begin with it.

You could try to make governments better for the people of the future. Unfortunately, human nature is very similar to the behavior of the other apes, so anything beyond simple dominance hierarchies tends to elude us. We frequently see no farther than our next meal (as we evolved to) though there are notable exceptions.

Making better governments requires making better people -- teaching them. I've tried that in the past, and I can say that I have little talent for it. If you do, then I've nothing but respect for you, but it's a thankless job. I'm no teacher, and even Buddha didn't manage to enlighten everyone.

I don't consider my life to have been wasted, but most of it is already over. I honestly don't care if anyone remembers me, and I don't believe I'll be judged for my actions, but I'm a pretty harsh critic all by myself. If my heart was weighed against a feather right now, I think I'd be just a bit on the lighter side. At this point, I think I'll focus on doing as little harm as possible.

A man once asked a teacher if there was anything better than prayer. The teacher advised him to sleep late -- that would keep him from doing anything evil.

Audiobellum

What do I want to do before I die? Hmm...I want to make pc games that people will like. If I'm lucky or work hard enough, I'd be able to turn this into a career. I also want to make other types of art and entertainment that other people will appreciate; I want to see myself reflected in the world around me. Who do I want to be? I want to be someone who isn't afraid to stand up for myself and what I believe in, regardless of the the consequences; a coward dies a thousand deaths. I do suffer from depression and my struggle with ADHD have ruined a good portion of my life so, even though I'm still young, I can't say that I'm looking for happiness. Instead, I desire to be immortalized in the art I create and the ideas I spread; that is what motivates me.

some_lame_kid

I think I'm already doing what I want to do. Reminding people mortality is the best thing that will ever happen to them. Everybody hates a run on sentence. They lack power and eventually grow annoying. Nobody notices the dandelion when the spring blossoms shower the streets. Dying is why living can feel so good. Dying is why your actions and your words can mean so much. I may be a morbid person, but I wouldn't call it such a bad thing. Live your whole life in the light, and you're blind to what waits to maul you in the darkness. It's always there and I choose to see it, even if it means the light often gets overwhelming when I come back to feel human again.

duane

The thought of my death doesn't motivate me. I've been in situations where I thought I was close to death before, and it didn't really worry me. However, as you get older, you have to watch more and more of the people you care about die. That's the real fear. I've been trying very hard lately to make the most of the time they have left.

cybereality

So I've already accomplished quite a lot in my life. There are still some things left I wish to finish, but I've done enough. Life is how you feel every day, and I'm totally happy. That's enough. Got COVID and thought I was going to die, so as soon as I recovered, I got the tattoo I always wanted. I'm not afraid of death. In fact, I'm not afraid of anything. I could die tomorrow, I'd still be completely happy. I made my peace with God. Nothing really matters. Don't be afraid of dying. Be afraid of never having lived.

some_lame_kid

What's the average age for this site? A lot of you guys say you've done and learned a lot. I guess it doesn't really matter. Age doesn't say a thing about whether you're gonna die today or in a couple years.

DaveTheCoder

Do the answers here have to be realistic?

I'd like to be able move back and forth in time, as in Jack Finney's novel Time and Again, so that I could redo portions of my life.

some_lame_kid

Answers don't matter.

I'd like to be able move back and forth in time, as in Jack Finney's novel Time and Again, so that I could redo portions of my life. I thought about this, but realised that if I did a lot of things "right", I'd probably be so much dumber and so much less happy with just breathing by now. I can't say I really regret a thing, as crappy as my early years were.

cybereality

Time travel is possible. You can literally change the past (well at least in your mind). I'm not joking. Read this book if you want to learn how. https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Present-Moment-Noah-Elkrief-ebook/dp/B00ADDTAA0/

cybereality

I'm 41 years old now. It wasn't until just this year that I felt comfortable with my life.

Audiobellum

I'm in my late 20's. I don't fear death but, I do fear suffering. I don't think it's regrets that motivates me. If I can't fix what I regret, then there is less for me to hold on to. Even a second chance, isn't a second chance or as long as getting older is a factor. What it means to experience something when you're older, isn't the same as experiencing it when you're younger. The comparisons that we make between all our experiences actually impact how they're perceived; this is the contrast principle. So unless a person can stay young, there is no such thing as making up for lost time. All I care for is recognition and understanding but, that's because I'm already alive.

cybereality

Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want.

duane

@Audiobellum said: What it means to experience something when you're older, isn't the same as experiencing it when you're younger.

You can't step twice on the same piece of water. :)

I had a much shallower understanding of every experience in my youth, but it's not that simple. You can either learn a little about something while you're young and benefit from it for much longer, or you can learn a lot about something while you're old, when it's often too late to matter.

SuperDoomKing

Before I die, I want to learn how to play piano and play my favourite songs on it, even if I am my only audience. Honestly I am not afraid of death, I am more concerned about suffering before death. I want my death to be quick and painless.

cybereality

Youth is wasted on the young.

duane

@SuperDoomKing said: Before I die, I want to learn how to play piano and play my favourite songs on it, even if I am my only audience.

I took piano lessons when I was a tad, but I gave it up quickly when I realized how much work was involved. On the other hand, I taught myself to touch-type on three different keymaps (qwerty, dvorak, and colemak), which is every bit as tedious. I guess it just shows how little music motivated me.

I think I'd like to finish my rogue-like before I die. I had it partly working on love2d, but I haven't made much progress on it in godot.

Also, I bought a dozen dvd-roms from marvel, around the turn of the century, that had 40 years worth of comic books from different series on them. I swore I was going to read them all, but I'm still stuck in the 1970s. When I first got a job, I used to subscribe to (and read) so many comic books that they had to ship them in a box the size of an unabridged dictionary every month. Just imagine all the money and brain cells I wasted on those things. :)

Audiobellum

@SuperDoomKing said: Before I die, I want to learn how to play piano and play my favourite songs on it, even if I am my only audience.

You know, I've actually achieved this; I've moved on to the guitar now. It's amazing just how easy it is to learn how to play music. I'm surprised how fast I was able to get it done. Check out Piano in 21 days as a starting point. He delivers the goods.

Audiobellum

@duane said: I took piano lessons when I was a tad, but I gave it up quickly when I realized how much work was involved. On the other hand, I taught myself to touch-type on three different keymaps (qwerty, dvorak, and colemak), which is every bit as tedious. I guess it just shows how little music motivated me.

This is just my opinion but, I think the way how music is taught in schools sucks. It's not just about teaching people how to play music but, it's also teaching people how to play that music in an orchestra as oppose to a band or by yourself. I managed to learn music by myself and what I found eye opening isn't what I had to learn but, what I didn't have to learn at all. I also know how to touch-type with qwerty but, it was a typing game that taught me how to do that and I was exposed to it in high school.