Enjoy Life

These three things were unknown to the majority of us and when we asked the rebels if what they were doing was right, their answer was very simple: enjoy life. Why shouldn't I do what makes me happy?

We didn't know what to say except that it was against our good teaching.

Consequently, during the five years I spent at the Ecole Normale, I never smoked, never drank beer, and never dated a girl. And that was until I was 19 years old. I was out of step and became religious in spite of myself. And my rebels constantly reminded me: so, you're going out with us, we're going to see some girls this weekend.

All these words had a rather negative meaning for me. Going to have fun instead of studying was for me a counter sense. And I maintained this attitude for the rest of my life.
Many years later, remembering those moments, I asked myself the question: who was right and who was wrong? Who had life and who didn't? For me, these two words went against my belief. There is no question of enjoying life when there is so much to do to improve our world.

I must say that my belief did not work in my favor, because once school was over and I found myself in a world I did not know, it was difficult for me to be part of society. In restaurants, I continued to eat kosher while others ignored it. I remember when I ordered a meatless pizza, when it arrived, it had peperoni on it. I would refuse it and be told, this is not meat, it's peperoni. I would refuse it again and my friends would laugh at me.

Pleasure, oh the big word!
And to think that I once read that pleasure is the guiding principle of our lives, that it is the thing we want the most, that pleasure is a moment that exalts us.
So why did I deprive myself of it?
I confess that wisdom in our life comes later and its lack during our youth causes us harm that we do not realize.

ENJOY LIFE

Here is an expression that I heard since my childhood and adolescence that I never liked.
I don't know why every time I heard it around me, especially from my few friends, I refused to join them.

My recollection of my time at the Ecole Normale reminds me that among my classmates, some of them, good students, had selfish inclinations to please themselves. Whether it was smoking on the sly, drinking beer or wine when the opportunity arose, or making sure they were.



A million years later, I must honestly admit that I did not know how to enjoy life during my youth and thus missed out on what many others experienced.
On the other hand, I did develop different choices. I loved to read and write. I surrounded myself with books of all kinds, I wanted to be wise before my time.
Today, as I approach the double 7, I ask myself the question: 'Was I right to think like that, depriving myself of the small pleasures that my classmates were getting?
I'm going to start believing that I was wrong and certainly missed many opportunities to enjoy myself. To take pleasure!

 

The more I think about it, the more I regret everything I missed. The opportunities were always there and I rejected them, out of stubbornness and especially out of disgust. To take advantage, this verb for me had a pejorative meaning, contrary to my convictions. I saw nothing constructive in it. To take advantage of someone makes this word deplorable, to the point where the word profit becomes unhealthy. And what are all the companies in the world looking for if not to make non-stop profits?

I would add, in English this word expresses 'to take advantage of something or someone. In other words, to take advantage of a situation deliberately. And that goes against my principles of the welfare of others. There is no way I would live off the generosity and hospitality of others.

So I have missed so much the taste of this 'enjoying life' that today, to compensate for all these shortcomings, I am constantly enjoying all these little pleasures that life does not offer to the point where sometimes, I invent them.

In conclusion, I recognize that we are all different from each other and that is what makes the world what it is. My friends did what they liked and I did the same, not imitating them. The future will prove to us if we were right to have taken this or that decision.

To be honest, I will have to add a point when indeed I have enjoyed life.
In the 80's, 90's and 2000's, my job was to work around the world. So, after several trips to Europe, followed by others to Asia and finally others to South America, I believe that apart from the business side, there was a pleasure side that I often encountered.
In short, if I didn't enjoy life when I was young, I must admit that I enjoyed it much later.

I had to bring this back to be fair and in order with myself.