Escape the Labyrinth

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

—

Albert Camus, The Stranger Something I have often caught myself doing, is thinking too much. I can't just accept things for the way they are. I feel a need to analyze every social norm, rule and even emotion. Because of this I find myself missing out on "real life" because I am too busy thinking about what "real life" really is and what is the proper way to live it. It's almost as if I get stuck in the "labyrinth" of my own mind. Many of my close friends have told me that they also tend to get stuck in these states of deep thought which often times leads to states of anxiety over the inevitability of death and our insignificance  in the greater scheme of the world. The title of this post can be attributed to a favorite quote of mine by my favorite author of all time; John Green. The quote reads as follows;  “You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking how you'll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”                                   - John Green, Looking for Alaska.  Although this is not what the quote was originally meant to be interpreted as, I tend to read this as a warning to not spend your whole life thinking about the future or what would be worth doing, but rather experience the future and experiment with what could be worth doing. The context of the quote is as follows; a young lady called Alaska is talking to her very nervous and uptight (not quite) love interest about her philosophies on life. Alaska believes in living fast and frankly a little irresponsibly. She spends most of the novel smoking cigarettes, having sex and buying illegal wine from a local liquor store. However her male counterpart to whom she is talking to, is completely crazy over her and despite his best interest and typically responsible lifestyle, he finds himself being dragged along on Alaska's crazy adventures. This young man was one of these deep thinkers. One of these people who spend much of their time stuck in their own heads.  SPOILER ALERT  Alaska's life ultimately comes to an early end about half way through the book. Cause of death; a terrible car accident that is suspected to be a suicide.  So the question is, Should you live your life as an "Alaska" (experiencing life to the fullest despite the consequences) or live your life as her male counterpart and narrator of the book, "Pudge" ( always caught up in your own thoughts and plagued with severe anxiety).  I believe that a lot of people I know, including myself, should find a healthy balance between the two.  Step outside of your own thoughts, but still be thoughtful .  -Ellen