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Why I would quit my job if I won the Big One

This is a continuation of This Post where I began to answer Mike28's question about satisfaction in life and poker.

Mike's question, many of the answers given, and certainly what will follow here are all quite existential and philosophical in nature and may not seem to have much to do with STTs. The whole discussion may seem better suited for the SMP forum. But I feel that this is an on-topic thread because so much of what's discussed in this forum has to do with whether or not to quit something to play poker instead.

Perhaps if I explain why I would quit my job if I could, even though I love it and it allows me to contribute to my community, it will help others on this forum who are struggling with decisions about staying in school or quitting their job to play poker.

What's the point?

Before you can adequately make any significant life decision, you really have to have at least some idea in your mind about why you are alive to begin with. What's the point of your existence? Is it to serve God? Is it to help people? Is it to leave the universe in slightly better shape than it was in when you were born?

Skipperbob gave one of the best answers I've ever heard to this question (probably by accident) when he said: "either there is no point, or this is the point."

Regardless of your personal opinion about the meaning of life, there are certainly a few fundamental truths which must be acknowledged when developing your world view.

We are all born. Then, soon after, we all die.

We are the only species on the planet that is self-aware and sentient. What a seemingly extraordinary gift. But it turns out that the burden of being aware of our own mortality is sufficiently paralyzing as to render our sentience useless. We have the capacity, by virtue of our own self-awareness, to experience happiness, bliss, and self-actualization. Yet, the vast majority of people on this planet rarely, if ever, take advantage of this capacity. In order to experience true happiness, one must be at peace with their mortality. That level of peace is apparently so difficult to obtain, that the capacity for true happiness is obviated.

Being self-aware is a curse analagous to ice cream at gunpoint for a 9 year old. If you pointed a gun at a 9 year old and then presented him with a room full of ice cream... telling him that he could eat as much as he wanted but that you would shoot him dead as soon as he couldn't eat any more... he would not be very excited about the room full of ice cream.

Cancer is the cure

The most worthwhile experiences I have ever had in my life involve working with, taking care of, and talking to people who are living out their last days with a terminal diagnosis.

Once a human being is forced to acknowledge their imminent death, take inventory of their life and priorities, and then live each remaining day consciously... everything changes. Having a conversation with a terminal patient is different than having a conversation with an oblivious person (that's really the most appropriate term I can think of: we are all terminal, but generally only those who have specifically been told so by a doctor are capable of accepting it.) They talk about the same things we all do: their children, the baseball game, a hand of poker, or the weather. But their eyes engage your soul when they speak. They pay exquisite attention to you and to what they are saying. If you tell them about your family, they care just as much about what you are saying as they care about anything else in the world, including their own death.

Of course, not every cancer patient is like this. But even people who are bad at dying tend to be better at living than most of us. Once you understand that you are dying, you begin to understand that everybody is dying. The moment you realize what a significant thing that is to have in common with other people is the moment you understand compassion.

I quit

So if compassion is the key to happiness and satisfaction in life, why would quitting your job make you more happy? Why not just have compassionate interaction with your co-workers, clients, customers, and bosses? The answer to that question has to do with the struggle in which most human beings are entangled. Since most people haven't accepted the fact that they are dying, they aren't likely to care about one another. There's no compassion. Not only do your co-workers, clients, customers, and bosses not care about you; many of them would actively hurt you if they stood to gain from it. That is why most jobs tend to be oppressive and demeaning... even good jobs.

So, while the key to self-actualization may be finding compassion in your heart, the key to happiness lies in surrounding yourself with other compassionate beings. That involves spending time with your family and friends, and meeting new people with eager and enlightened points of view. This is where a job can get in the way.

Then I'm quitting to play poker

If a young poker player like Raptor or Good2cu ever got drunk enough to ask me for advice on dropping out of school to play poker, I would encourage them to stay in school. But it isn't because I think there is anything wrong with playing poker for a living, nor is it because I think that getting a college degree is particularly important. It's because I feel like I understand a little bit about how to find true happiness and I know that the requisite knowledge will not be displayed on a 2001FP over streaming video. In order to learn about compassion, come to terms with your own mortality, and develop a sound world view you need experience and interaction with other people. College is more likely to offer directions to this path that the WPT is.

The fact that Unarmed is traveling around the world playing poker or that Lacky is supporting his family with the game truly makes me happy. Very happy. But that doesn't mean that I would encourage a young person to pursue a career in online poker rather than continue with their schooling or their current field of employment.

The Big One

Even though I have a tremendously rewarding and satisfying job, I would quit immediately if I won enough money playing poker to continue my current lifestyle ( [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]) without working. I would do so to spend more time interacting in a meaningful way with the meaningful people in my life. I would also actively seek out meaningful interactions with other people whom I have not yet met.

I know that there are many people on this forum who are already doing this and I applaud and respect them.

The real challenge for most of us is to continue along the path towards true personal happiness while fulfilling the daily responsibilities of our lives and enduring the dearth of compassion among those around us. I guess that's one more thing that we all have in common.

Irieguy