Thoughts of -e^(pi*i) man – Tien Nguyen

I find it to be incredibly hilarious–and perhaps a true dePIctment and ePItome to my nerdism–that so many puPIls of mine, those close and even those not so close are able to associate such an obscure (yes I admit it’s obscure) sPIritual day/date with me in a way that I could never have PIctured…even if it was just in sPIrit.

I got more text messages chamPIoning this day than I did on my birthday, and probably would’ve gotten more wall posts too if Facebook didn’t act as a sPIffy bday reminder service in which people sheePIshly write obligatory hapPI bday messages. I really thought I was dreaming that I had to PInch myself..

The day is also known as the anti-Valentine’s day or White Dayin some parts of the world, but cuPId’s got nothing on it for the high I got made me feel that I was on oPIum, and in fact made me feel like I should’ve been hosPItialized for feeling like such a PImp.

And even to those stuPId PInheads who were crapPIng on it with their PIssy sPIel, I salute you too for sPIking its awareness desPIte your blatant nitPIcking anti-pi-day drooPIness PItching agenda. You all deserve a whooPIng.

Anyway, enough sapPIness, it’s time to PIllage out to find some PIe to slopPily PIg out on.

W00t w00t

Source: CPC Strategy Blog

Imagine a game show where you had to pick a number; number 1 gets you $1, number 2 gets you $2, 3 gets you $3, etc. all the way up to infinity–and it’s simply up to you to choose any number you want. There’s no chance, luck, or anyone to influence you in what you want. And you got to play every single day.

The strategy in this game is obvious*, but every morning we wake up in this same scenario, with the world at our hands, free to do as we please and choose to be as valuable as we want.

Yet, somehow we end up settling on choices far less than optimal, and then we curiously look back thinking, “damn it I should’ve picked a higher number”.

The point in our lives in which we currently find ourselves is the result of a string of decisions made along the way by ourselves as well as others.

We had no control over where and in which period of history we’re born in this world, nor over our caretakers and genetics determining our genders, ethnicity, intelligence, etc.

We’re essentially rendered decisionless for most of our early lives. As a child we have no control on the amount of food we’re fed or love we’re provided. Our environment and the conditions we grew up in, while being a major factor in who we are today, was not of our choosing.

When we’re young our choices are generally of little consequence. Wanted pizza and to play video games? Here’s rice and a calculator (as was my case).

Further, not only did our choices growing up have little consequence, they were directly influenced by all decisions made in our lives previously.

Love to read? Maybe you were given access to books early. Hate computers? Maybe one dropped on your head as a kid.

It’s a chain of decisions, of which only some were fully in our control, that lead us to where we are today. If you’re reading this you’re probably at an age/point where you have complete free will to do anything you want, bound by nothing.

We are playing the aforementioned game everyday yet we’re not fully maximizing our opportunities**. Our ability (or inability) to choose a higher number is a function that’s bounded by our past. We can only choose a higher number we see it to be within our realm. One day our upper-bound might be ‘x’, but if we work at it everyday it’ll slowly go higher as we escape the past and realize our full possibilities.

Is our past acting as an anchor over what you can or should do?^[1] If so it may be time to abandon those notions and think of expanding your upper-bounds. Success begets success and each higher number we reach, the higher the number we see that we can reach.

*hint: choose as high a number as you can think of

**our opportunities are infinite and by definition infinity is not achievable

Youtube versions aren’t quite as good as the original unfortunately..nor are they all under 12

6. Into the Woods – I Know Things Now

5. Sound of Music – So Long, Farewell

4. Les Mis – Look Down

3. Love Never Dies – Look With Your Heart

2. Secret Garden – The Girl I mean To be

1. Les Mis – Castle in the Cloud

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Below is a diagram of how my progression through my attempted century ride.

Mile 1

YAY LET’S GO I CAN DO THIS WHOO!!!!

Mile 10

Mile 15

Mile 20

I’m making good time, let’s keep this pace up!!Mile 30

Mile 35

3rd rest stop is coming up, let’s get there, replenish, and go on our way!

Mile 45

Almost at the halfway point!! Feelin’ great, let me update my FB status real quick…I can do this!!!!

Mile 50

Shit what’s that feeling in my left quad..let me pull over and stretch a bit

Mile 55

AAAAhhh my calves, let’s slow it down.

Mile 60

Fuck, hitting my wall..most drink my vitalyte and stretch a bit.

Mile 65

Okay, now it’s really hurting…turn around point is coming up…let’s hang in there

.Mile 68

Mile 70

Mile 71

Mile 72

Okay I’m here…wait where am I? Why’s it so friggin hot? Okay time to turn around, I can do…

Mile 73

Help. Please

*updates facebook*

 As humans we greatly anticipate new beginnings and blindly ignore how often past new starts have mistreated us (hence why we want new starts).

In video games it’s disappointing to fail/die, but not so much since the reset button is always there. In Mario if you die you’re left with plenty of lives left–and when those are exhausted you can hit a continue button and start all over again.

Life is not so simple though. Our life is one continuous journey where our past in one way or another affects our present/future.  And inevitably our past is filled with countless mistakes and regrets that won’t ever go away, similar to Mario where that damn turtle finds a way to hit you even though you hit that damn jump button before he got to you and throw your controller across the room…so it’s no wonder we’re constantly seeking new beginnings.

We celebrate New Years, birthdays, spring, etc. as new beginnings even though they’re completely arbitrary days that fall in line as they do due to the orbit patterns of the earth.

We celebrate graduations even if it may mean 3 months of seeking employment and failing, we anticipate new relationships even though every single previous one we had fell apart at one point, and we celebrate weddings even though divorce is basically a coin flip away (if you’re married/getting married..I don’t mean yours).

A new job? Let’s celebrate! Even though you’ll probably hate it and be miserable. Kids? Break out the cigars because they make you miserable too (except for your kids).

New football season? Your team probably won’t win the Super Bowl. Bonus points if you’re a Raiders fan.

So the point is, other than trying to depress the shit out of you if you actually take me seriously, is that try to make the most of your nows. You never know what you can do with the cards you’re dealt and a redeal may even get you worse cards. Our brains are wired to look forward to changes in areas of our lives that aren’t perfect. 

But the best things in life are those that last, rather than those that are new to us.

Back in college the panic caused by the deadline of a paper sets off certain neurons in one’s brain that it’s go-time. Distractions are suddenly unwelcome, whereas just 5 minutes prior, IMs and Facebook notifcations were not only accepted, but encouraged tangents.

The luxury of time is only an asset when you’re fighting against it; and the less that remains its value increases exponentially. From a mathematical standpoint it makes sense–percentage wise the first 3 hours of a 24-hour deadline is the equivalent to 7-8 minutes of the final hour.

Without deadlines time is of seeming abundance, it becomes wasted away never to return.

It’s ironic then that as we edge close to our deadline on earth we become much too old to actually enjoy it.

While a deadline for finishing a paper in our younger years meant our senses were heightened, our focus was intensified, and our brains sharpened up; as we head closer to our meeting with St. Peter’s, age makes its appearance with time as our biggest culprits.

All of a sudden instead of the pressures helping bring out the best of us, our mindsets change from what can I do now to maximize my situation, to what could I have done.

As we’re young the regrets we’ve lived through allow us to learn from them, preventing such relapses in the future (ideally)–but one day those regrets will no longer serve as lessons, but permanent, unfixable fixtures.

tl;dr: The moral is then, learn now from your regrets, there’ll be plenty of time one day to dwell on them.

-this previous emo moment has been sponsored by Life; no purchase necessary but refunds are also out of the question