Imagine If You Will

In life there are tough choices. Who to marry? What career to choose? White or wheat bread? All choices come with consequences and responsibilities. The more choices made, the more responsibility is borne. That's why it is important to remain aloof whenever possible. Stay out of the mix and you'll never have to worry about heavy responsibility being placed upon your shoulders. Of course a person with no responsibilities will never know the satisfaction of a job well done, but that's the price of a fail proof life. Besides, satisfaction only builds confidence to accept more responsibility. It's like a death spiral! It's better to keep to the sidelines and avoid direct involvement.

There is nothing cowardly in ducking responsibility. In fact it has a certain sense of nobility. It shows that you don't require the respect and admiration of anyone to keep you going. Zero responsibility is the true sign of the maverick and a beacon of hope to failures everywhere. There could be nothing more refreshing than to wake up in the morning utterly alone and with nobody depending on you to do anything.

The funny thing is that we are the only creatures in the world who have this unique ability to shrug off responsibility. Plants, animals and insects all follow pre-programmed behaviors, or instincts. They do their jobs without a second thought because they have no concept of any other way of life. Animal parents will care for their young simply because they don't know any different and they will continue to bear young without regard for what socio-economic impact their offspring will have on the greater animal kingdom. They simply take on the task of rearing a posterity limited only by the short lifespan allotted to them. Oh if only we could liberate these poor helpless creatures with the imagination to conceive of a different course of action. Instinctive behavior would no longer burden their lives, rather they would have the choice of doing as they please. They could organize themselves, as people have done, into groups aimed at eliminating responsibility from their lives. They could lobby their governing bodies to eliminate any overt social pressures to comply with the norm, which everyone knows may bring on punishing self loathing and pangs of guilt.

What great joy would come when nothing in the world followed it's prescribed course but instead followed the fancy that came with every fleeting moment. As one ponders the wondrous consequences that would come from such a state of affairs, it becomes apparent that there may be some animals which have already reached this enlightenment. Could it be that our endangered species, as we call them, are simply tired of the same old way of life. Maybe they just don't want the burden of small children or the grief of teenagers. Salmon runs aren't really going extinct, they're just too busy partying to worry about spawning.

So give a fish brother a break and just let it go man! Free yourself of heavy burdens and shirk the ever present list of endless responsibilities. Besides, at the end of it all both the underachiever and the task driven man are dead alike and they both return to the same stuff. We can't all be the President of the United States but we can all laugh in the face of boring societal expectations. Que será, será, unless there is something after this life. In which case you didn't hear any of this from me because I was busy serving soup at the homeless shelter and providing ample care to those for whom I have happily taken full responsibility.