THE HOW-TO SERIES: TESTS TO KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE ALWAYS YEARNED TO DISCOVER (PART 1)

 

TEST No. 1:

HOW TO KNOW YOU MIGHT ACTUALLY LOVE THAT PERSON OF INTEREST FOR REAL

First, imagine taking away the contingency of intimacy and all romantic affiliations with such a person. Finally, if you are still keen on seeing them/talking to them/spending a great deal of your day with them regardless if you could afterward, then there's something there.

Love, as it should be, intimate or not, isn't mainly in the getting; and as such even when there's nothing to get anymore, it thrives yet.

TEST No. 2:  

HOW TO BE CERTAIN YOU’RE REALLY HAPPY BEING WITH SOMEONE IN A PARTNERSHIP (WHETHER IN BUSINESS TERMS OR OTHERWISE)

Does being with the person(s) feel like work? If it does, doesn't mean anything. Life itself feels like work. However if it feels like work you wished you didn't have to do, then you're probably forcing it way too much. And a great rule of life is knowing that people will still be alright without you. It's not your job to make them happy or feel good about themselves, but it is yours to ensure to not live out your days in misery. So it's important to identify when certain routes are beginning to lead toward misery and find a way to save what could be left of your future. In truth, you stand a better chance being happy alone than being tied to someone out of pity or desperation. That's a knot that never truly loosens till it strangles you completely.

So when making that next decision, be it when founding your next startup or planning the trajectory of your entire life, always remember that there are loads that can surely help keep you afloat when in the open sea but at the same time will keep you from swimming fast enough to shore. That something is manageable doesn't make it convenient or perfect; and in life settling should never be the aim, thriving should.

TEST No. 3:

HOW TO BE CERTAIN YOU ARE MAKING THE RIGHT CHOICE

This part is the most difficult, because first of all what is a right choice? How do you know there is a right choice or how to identify it when you come across it? 

Personally I think this is a social construct made up by people who assume they know everything, but another distinct rule of life is that when you think you know everything that's when it's clear you know nothing. For me, I feel that if it makes you happy and doesn't go against any of your ethics or those of whom you are accountable to, then it's fine. We are pretty much just swinging it out here in life. We learn by our constant daily experiences and observations, and that's what life is: learning. It's the very reason why all religions agree that there is a sort of judgment at the end of all this. 

What use is a grade without a test? So, Life is a test, a plane where we learn and practically are meant to make the best out of all we can learn. Hence the right choice is the choice that gets you the best lessons and carries you toward living the best life you possibly can have.