a simple life.

there used to be a time when living a simple life means:
- going to bed before 10 pm, lights all out, occasionally do bedtime reading for a while, but definitely not later than 11 pm,
- waking up early in the morning when roosters start shouting their infamous alarm out,
- having a good breakfast in a big portion,
- going to school/work/market/etc. which are within walking distance, or taking less than 20 minutes to reach by car/motorcycle/bike etc.,
- coming back home latest by 7 pm to have dinner together,
- talking about what has happened on a day while glued on the TV set showing a feel-good sitcoms,
- settling down on who's gonna do the dishes, and who's gonna use the bicycle on the following weekend,
- and uttering prayers before hitting the bed.

nowadays, an effort to live a simple life based on modern standard means:
- going to bed before 10 pm is laughable, after all, juggling between workloads and CSI is not easy,
- waking up early to have breakfast at 7 am?! i thought breakfast is served at 12 pm, the earliest!,
- oh no! i'm late! now i'm stuck in a traffic jam, which means i'll reach the office in ... two hours?!
- there's no way i could go home early, i've got to stay back to do the overdue works, and while waiting for the traffic jam to cease, i'd better hit the gym to shed away these calories,
- i can't believe they're showing fear factor at dinner time! and what's up w/ these so-called reality shows? nothing on TV is real!,
- i'll just sleep on weekend, don't bother to knock. well, unless you can put me on the guest list for the new pub in town,
- look, i'm tired, i've got a meeting tomorrow, so ... i ... zzzz ... zzzz ... zzz ..

looking at how i've managed to survive both lives, i can't help making comparison among these two. if you think that the former is tad boring, think again.

you wake up in the morning, you go to the office and do your work without thinking because you are trained like a machine, while the only think that you're looking forward to is the salary slip, and its paycut for taxes, bills, and rents.
no worries about that, there are ways to sneak out and have fun, although for that matter, living in 5 or 6 days of routine has to be endured without any complaints.
complaining does not change anything though, you'll still end up being a slave of life.
after all the complaints, the life to meet up the standard has to be fulfilled.

wait.
what standard, and whose standard?
has there been any rules on living the way like most people do?

for sure, government along with their phone companies, electric companies, and big giants of supermarket chains only care of you when you pay the taxes, fines, bills, dues, and shopping fee on time, on the right amount, preferrably as excessive as possible. the way to obtain the means is considered less important, anything can be disguised and covered under the mask of generosity.

and living a modern life proves to be no feat of excitement.
and living a traditional life deems impossible to lead among the rushes of surroundings.

choose the life you want to be. be warned that this piece of advice is given by an undetermined guy not knowing what he needs to do with his lack-of-clear-direction life. what matters to him most is how he makes use of his current, remaining pieces of breathing existence.

we choose our lives.