I am not sure if this advice is unsolicited or if I am in any way qualified to tell anyone where to begin, but my thought on reading your article is....the children come first.

You can make up ground in your career. I switched careers after age 40. I was ten years older than the next oldest person in my MBA class and still finished with a 4.0 GPA. I have discovered the joys (and pains) of working out close to age 50. But your kids....once they are grown your chance with them is gone.

Well, that is not exactly true. I have found a good friend in my adult son. It is a pleasure watching my daughter enter her teen years. But I have to believe that our relationships now are based on the lov of their childhoods.

I read to both my kids, every night. No matter how tired I was, we had that special time.

I played sports with both of them. We still share those times.

You can catch up on anything else, but if you miss their childhood, you will both be the poorer.

Larry gave some great advice! Lazy is so easy, you're right, just don't let it become who you are.

Thanks Larry. I definitely agree with you. But I need to work enough to feed them, for sure. It's hard to advance in a CPA firm without a CPA. Bah.

Laziness is already who I am, now I just need to change that.

It's really good that life has been a soft place for you,  no need for guilt over that if any is felt. 

A lot of good things that happen to us are a direct result of our own choices,  and other times "you know what" happens,  even though we didn't do anything to deserve it...

You can always challenge yourself to do something new,  something you've always wanted to try,  whether it's skydiving,  learning how to crochet,  or? or?  

It's been my own experience that trying something new gets me motivated   especially if I really want to do it and have just been procrastinating...

I like being lazy too   however it also throws me further into depression,   so I have to ( even though I don't want to) do something,  anything.  That gives me a feeling of accomplishment,  and that too is motivating for me.

Good luck,  although with your own insight,  I think you're already ok.

"However it also throws me further into depression"

Yes! I hate that. Makes being lazy almost not worth it.

Just want to say thanks for the comments! As for trying something new, being a father is always something new, and it's always challenging... which is why I tend to just give up instead of doing it right.

Introspection is painful for me. I grew up much like you describe yourself, J. Never had to pay attention in school or do homework...it all just worked its way into my mind seemingly from the osmosis of just sitting in class. I never read a book I wrote a paper on, and got 97's and 98's on them anyway. The consummate bullshit artist or just adept at synthesizing? Who knows where that line is truly drawn?

Your comment on the generational problem is insightful, and perhaps, if I allow myself to hope, the signal of the revolution a-coming.

I liked reading this, and in response, I'll do what I always do. Quote somebody else who said what I want to say, but did it far better than I can - because - I'm lazy, too. This is a parable about a group of young people who woke up one day and realized they didn't know anything - and didn't know why they didn't know anything, and became quite irate about it. To me it's a vision of the future. When the children of the Baby Boomers - the Generation Xers - get done destroying everything, the punks are going to rise up and take everyone to task for destroying the world. I can only hope. Here is the story of that vision. I hope you enjoy the read.


Beliefs

Chapter 1

And so it happened that the punk writer bands of South Street started writing stories,
2 Called pieces,
3 Which were mostly about Boomers,
4 Who mostly died at the end,
5 Horribly,
6 And with lots of broken rules along the way,
7 Including a lot of abuse aimed at the reader,
8 And a lot of plot,
9 And a lot of plot manipulation,
10 And a lot of cardboard characters,
11 And a lot of obvious messages from the writers,
12 But no obscenities or pornications,
13 And nothing about despair or misery or what a big joke everything is,
14 And nothing about the end of the world or how evil Mankind is,
15 Which made punk fiction completely different from the kind of fiction written by authors who have their pictures on the back cover.

Chapter 2

Nobody paid much attention to the punks,
2 Which was okay with the punks,
3 Because they were busy,
4 Writing pieces,
5 And trying to read about things,
6 Even if they had a hard time understanding the things they were curious about,
7 Like how come the Boomers are so awful that even low-life punks can hate them enough to write nasty pieces about them?

Chapter 3

Then one day a stranger came to Punk City,
2 Saying that he had an important message for the punks,
3 And that they should listen closely,
4 Because the stranger knew everything,
5 Including the best way to live.

Chapter 4

The punks gathered around the stranger in their usual meeting place,
2 Which was near South Street,
3 But not very public,
4 And listened to what he had to say,
5 Which was an earful.

Chapter 5

"My name is called Wayne," said the stranger,
2 "And I come to you with a message from a friend of yours,
3 "Who lives in Rio,
4 "But own property in a lot of countries down south,
5 "And he asked me to tell you that you are doing everything the wrong way,
6 "Which is a shame,
7 "Because it makes everything so much harder.

Chapter 6

"Don't you understand that you were better off before,
2 "Before you started looking at books,
3 "And writing vicious little stories about Boomers,
4 "And putting your life on the line for what you are doing?
5 "For the truth is that if you put your life on the line, you will end up losing it,
6 "And there is nothing worth losing your life for.

Chapter 7

"You might not be talking about the end of the world in your vicious little stories,
2 "But the end of the world is coming,
3 "And there is nothing you can do about it.
4 "The race of Mankind descended from the apes,
5 "And has learned nothing new in five thousand years,
6 "Except how to kill more efficiently.
7 "Now he has nuclear weapons,
8 "And there's no point in trying to change anything,
9 "Because the only thing worth changing is Mankind,
10 "And Mankind is the only constant in a totally random universe.
11 "Moreover, there is no God,
12 "Which means there's no such thing as evil,
13 "And so you might as well be the way you are,
14 "Which is basically nothing,
15 "And therefore incredibly easy to be.
16 "Besides, if there were any point in you knowing anything,
17 "Don't you think someone would have told you by now?

Chapter 8

"And I have to tell you that if you keep on going the way you're going,
2 "A lot of people are going to become very upset with you
3 "Because you make people uncomfortable,
4 "And you inconvenience them,
5 "And you act like you're better than other people,
6 "Which is not only un-American,
7 "But dangerous,
8 "Because they will be looking for things to blame on you,
9 "So they can kill you,
10 "Or put you someplace where you'll never make anyone uncomfortable again.

Chapter 9

"I suppose you think you're looking for truth,
2 "But the only truth is that nobody cares about truth anymore,
3 "Because the truth is bad news,
4 "And it's easier to not think about it,
5 "Whatever it is,
6 "And use your mind for a playground,
7 "Instead of some lethal weapon,
8 "Which will only get you killed in the end,
9 "Believe me.

Chapter 10

"Now I ask you,
2 "Wouldn't everything be a lot easier,
3 "If you just went back to doing what you were doing before,
4 "And left writing to the professional writers,
5 "And left thinking to the professional thinkers,
6 "And left drug territories to the professional drug dealers?
7 "None of this is worth dying for,
8 "None of it,
9 "And you can't deny that you'd have a lot more fun just having sex,
10 "And hanging out,
11 "And doing drugs,
12 "And not worrying about things that are much bigger than you could ever hope to understand,
13 "Even if you were any good at writing or thinking or anything else,
14 "Which you're not.
15 "So, what do you say?"

Chapter 11

And the punks answered Wayne saying, "Do you really believe what you're telling us,
2 "Believe it so much that you feel it in your gut like a living thing?"
3 And Wayne replied, "Absolutely."
4 Thereupon the punks said, "Then you would be willing to die for this belief, wouldn't you?"
5 And Wayne argued with the punks, saying, "I have already told you that no belief is worth dying for,
6 "And I have the courage of my convictions,
7 "Which is why I have no intention of dying for my belief."
8 Then the punks answered Wayne with ire, saying, "We are willing to die for our beliefs,
9 "As we have already done in great numbers,
10 "And therefore we have no respect for you and your beliefs,
11 "Which is why we will give you a choice:
12 "Either you prove the power of your beliefs by declaring yourself willing to die for them,
13 "Or we shall kill you like a rat in the street for the insults you have heaped on us.
14 "You have one minute to decide."

Chapter 12

Then Wayne thought mightily for a full minute,
2 And finally asked a question as follows:
3 "If I declare that I am willing to die for my beliefs, will you then acknowledge the truth of what I have told you?
4 "For certainly I care about you all very much, on behalf of your friend down south,
5 "And it is possible that I might be induced to compromise my philosophical principles as you seem to demand,
6 "Provided that I could be sure you would place credence in my most basic precept,
7 "Which is that nothing is worth dying for,
8 "And you shouldn't risk it."

Chapter 13
Thereupon the punks smiled and said back to Wayne,
2 "We understand that you are in something of a trap,
3 "For this situation is very like the way professional writers say life itself is,
4 "Meaning that it looks as if you can't win,
5 "No matter what.
6 "We are very sorry about this, of course,
7 "But maybe you can reassure yourself by remembering your belief that the whole universe is totally random,
8 "Like some big accident,
9 "And that the odds against you ever running into a situation like this one must be almost too high to count,
10 "Which makes you special,
11 "In about the only way someone with your beliefs could ever be special.
12 "Does that make you feel better, Wayne?
13 "We hope it does,
14 "Because your time is up."

Chapter 14

Then Wayne spoke in a loud shaky voice, saying, "I have decided that I hold my beliefs so deeply that I am willing to die for them,
2 "Just as you are willing to die for your beliefs.
3 "And I implore you to accept the truth of my message,
4 "So that no life need to be lost before its time,
5 "Including all of yours,
6 "Not to mention mine.
7 "For truly if my life is lost before its time,
8 "Then yours will be too,
9 "For which you'll have to take my word,
10 "Which, I hasten to remind you, is the word of a man willing to die for what he believes."

Chapter 15

When Wayne had finished speaking, the punks replied to him, as follows:
2 "Friend Wayne, we are touched by your concern for our well-being,
3 "But you have not persuaded us of your belief,
4 "Which is contrary to our belief,
5 "No matter how much we respect your willingness to die for it.
6 "We would like to let you go free,
7 "Back to Rio or wherever you came from,
8 "But we cannot do that,
9 "Because if a man willing to die for the belief that no belief is worth dying for,
10 "He is a stupid man,
11 "Even stupider than the punk writers of Punk City,
12 "And too stupid to live.
13 "That is why we have decided that you must die for your belief,
14 "In an appropriately stupid way,
15 "Like crucifixion."

Chapter 16

And so the punks took Wayne,
2 And gave him a cross to bear,
3 And made him bear it all the way to the Coming Attractions sign,
4 Where they nailed him to the wall,
5 And left him to die.

Chapter 17

It took Wayne a long time to die,
2 But he didn't have much to say while he was doing it,
3 Except one thing, as follows:
4 "You're all crazy, you lousy punks,
5 "Because the rest of the world believes the way I do,
6 "And the whole civilized world operates in accordance with this belief,
7 "And you'll never get to first base trying to change it,
8 "Because it's buried too deep to root out,
9 "And all that's left is waiting anyway,
10 "Because it's finished."
11 And with that, Wayne was finished too.

(c) 1991 R. F. Laird

Thoughts on that?

Keeping on the topic of the article... meh.

Seriously though, thanks for the compliment.

Quick thoughts, those punks were so right, it IS stupid to be willing to die for the belief that no belief is worth dying for. It also seems to be the trend - except, it's not quite on target for Christians. Most Christians I know would be willing to die for their beliefs, for sure, but living for them? The every day of them? Not so many.

The rest of society seems out to live as long as they can, gather as much stuff as they can, with as little effort as they can. The smart ones find out that you can gather a lot faster with more effort. The really smart ones figure out that it's worthless anyway, and that they need to enjoy what they do have.

The truly great Christians in the world realize that other people are all that matter.

This kind of is a good followup to Brad's article.  When you find what you love, it is not hard to put a lot of effort into it.  That goes for children and work.