Do Better, Be Better!

***Blog note: This is an older blog I published in December 2006. It is a favorite because it talked about an ideal I try to hold on to everyday: DBBB (Do Better, Be Better). Hope you enjoy***

DBBB... Do Better, Be Better. Ever heard that before? I don't just want to do better...I need to be better.

Confused? You shouldn't be. It's the one thing we all strive for and want out of life.

Happiness. Corny sounding, I know, but it is the truth. Problem is we have lost sight of what it means to obtain happiness.

My generation is a generation of obtainers. We like nice things: fancy cars, fine jewelry, big house, things like that. Material things. We spend and spend trying to do better than the next guy. We try to do better than the Joneses because, well, how else will others see our successes? But we keep chasing a dream we may never catch.

Think back for a second. As you grew up, you always looked ahead at better times. For example…when you were 12, you wanted to be 13. At 13, you wanted to be 15. At 15, 16 was what was cool. At 16, you wanted to be grown up at 18. At 18, well, we all want to be legal at 21. 21 lead to a desire to be 25. And now, for most of my friends and me, we are looking ahead to 30. 30 is our new magic number. It's the status we want to obtain. 30.

So what does 30 hold for us?

We see 30 as the time when we will be at out happiest (at least for now). We will have the job we want, the car we want, and the house/apartment/townhouse of our dreams. Many of my guy friends have settled on 30 as the age in which they will settle down with a good woman. No more chasing hoes. Time for the wife and kids.

Here is the only problem I find with striving for 30. I know quite a few 30+ year olds and, believe me, they dont have it good. They are trying to make it just like us under-30 year olds in the same situation s, same problems, and same drama. Just older.

So how is 30 looking now, people? I ask this question of my peers…how is life right now? Forget about getting to 30. How is life today for you? Good? Bad? Ehhh? So-So?

Yeah, I feel the same way.

And so the reason for this blog…do better, be better. This isn't about the material gains. It's about being happy before you buy all of that stuff. TVs break. Cars get totaled. Jewelry gets lost. And then what are you left with? A bunch of bills? An empty feeling? Unfulfilled? Yeah, I will pass on that.

I have been so used to feeling SSDD all the time: same shhh, different day. The same old routine that has been a burden to me for far too long. I am not out here to live the monotonous, everyday life. I want better than that. I want better than the rut I have been reduced to. Or let myself get used to. (Ha…I rhymed!)

So damn the SSDD. It's time for DBBB. Do better, be better.

Many of my friends are practicing that now. I have people in law school, medical school, getting their master's, PhD's, making doors of opportunity open for themselves. They aren't waiting for some magic age to break out. They are making it happen now.

Obtaining the material things isn't going to cut it for me. Granted, a car and apartment are necessary for me right now, I don't have to be in the best. I just need to be happy. I don't want the newest TV, newest car or best entertainment system. None of that is going to help me in the long run. Just fulfill a temporary need until I see something that someone else has and then the whole process starts again. I don't need a life of trying to catch up with others and their purchases. I would never be happy if that was the case. Always running to catch up. I'm going to get tired eventually and then what? I am stuck with stuff I don't want anymore because it is not the best.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with wanting the best of everything. It just shouldn't be the driving force for your actions. You should be. Your family and friends should be. The desire to be fulfilled and content with life. That is what I am trying to get. That is what I want. So, go ahead and do better…get the material things. But be better as well. Work on getting to the point that all those material possessions are just icing on the cake. Not the cake itself.

DBBB, people.

DBBB!