When we were on our trek across the country last summer, I ripped through dozens of audio books… One of which was possibly the most truthful, yet disturbing books I have ever read or listened to…
Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power.
Upon completion, I sent a message to author Ryan Holiday, who I know has worked closely with Robert Greene for years. I was very honest with Ryan and explained my feelings about how I felt the book seemed to be a historical blueprint of how to be a manipulating, deceitful piece of shit…
Ryan responded by saying that Robert was a “sweetheart of a man” and the book was simply a look into the psychological tactics of some of the most influential and famous people who have ever lived.
Interesting…
Regardless of what the eternal message of the book was supposed to be, I was highly entertained, and because of of Ryan’s Robert Greene endorsement, I definitely reserved any sort of judgment on Greene’s character.
Then, the other day I read one of Ryan’s blog posts that championed several of the lessons that he had learned from Robert over the years. One of the main lessons was the title of Ryan’s blog post…
ALIVE TIME vs. DEAD TIME.
“He told me there are two types of time: alive time and dead time. One is when you sit around, when you wait until things happen to you. The other is when you are in control, when you make every second count, when you are learning and improving and growing.”
Damn I like that…
Never mind… I f*cking LOVE that.
Ryan then quoted Robert Greene, who was expanding on his alive time vs. dead time theory:
“The worst thing in life you can have is a job that you hate, that you have no energy in, that you’re not creative with and you’re not thinking of the future. To me, might as well be dead.”
Wow. Truth speaks doesn’t it. Good ole’ Robert & I are DIALED in here…
If I am writing this and you are reading this right now, we are obviously alive, but how many of us are truly LIVING?
The great thing is that each moment we have on earth is an opportunity to learn, grow and push perceived physical and psychological limits. Each moment we have is a chance to bring dead time to LIFE.
Ultimately, how we spend our time, alive or dead, is a CHOICE…
Not sure bout you, but so long as I am are here, I prefer to f*cking LIVE.
-EB