<p>I have been doing a lot of self-reflection lately on this very topic. It seems to me that those who want to have fun in life will end up having fun regardless of their annual income. While on the other hand, there are those people who work their asses off throughout high school and college, will still work hard when they enter the real world and end up not having fun.</p>
<p>Think about it. So you have a big house, so you have a sweet car, the fact is you'll still be lonely if you didn't develop some social skill in your early years of life. Besides, its not like you're going to turn into a party animal suddenly after being locked up in a study hall for you entire life previously!!! Is there some point in life where you just have to draw the line and say: "Screw studying for this Calc test, I need to get out and party with my friends!!!" Do you CC'ers think this is justifiable to some extent???</p>
<p>This is totally the view I had when I was 16. Then I didn't go to college until I was 23 and finished up this year. 12 years of alcoholism is what that state of mind got me. I always was looking for the perfect party, the ultimate drunken good time, but it led to me killing a 12 pack watching Today on NBC after working third shift. Now I am six months sober (finally) and trying to find a real job after slacking my whole life. (ten years of being a security guard) Thankfully I have loving parents, and I never had any kids or ex-wives, so it isn't as bad as it could be. But for the love of God, study now and go to college right now and do good, your life will be much better off.</p>
<p>work hard, play hard. thats my motto...well, kind of. i work hard, but i like to kick back and watch tv or go out with friends, and generally activities i do outside of school, i love. </p>
<p>though i know alot of people who work hard, and work even harder.</p>
<p>I think, when we start ageing and stuff, like when we are about 30+, we are all eventually gonna learn how to balance our lives (except for the little extreme minorities - alcoholics, stoners, workaholics, gamblers, etc..)</p>
<p>My friend's parents dropped out of highschool at 16 and they make heaps of money, they have a good social life (book clubs, tennis clubs, country club, etc). My friend's mum told us that she used to get stoned a lot and party too much but as she (and her husband) got older, they started taking responsibilty and gradually balanced their life (to near perfection i reckon)</p>
<p>And well.. hard work pays off.. I can't think of anyone (other than celebrities) that never study and party all night and achieve their 'acadamic goals' at the same time. Well.. one of the my friends does VERY little studying and still get great grades.. but she does study (in the morning, at 5am, in the toilet, etc..) so I don't think she counts..</p>
<p>Banedon, Yes my parents and I also think so. Most of my friends are umm 'acadamically challenged', very very very very social and quite the excessive drinkers and (some are) stoners. My parents and I are very confused with why I'm turning out this way.. (like an angel) I guess I just didn't fall into that peer pressure crap..</p>
<p>yea i drew that line a while ago.... I think its pretty easy to balance out school work and partying basically just dont party when you know you have something big to do.... and i mean real big like a paper or big test the next day not like i need to study for my AP Bio test thats in 3 days.. I party almost every weekend and some weekdays but i still know how to get work done. There is a such thing as excessive hard work.... if you start studying for tests you have tuesday on friday night that is way excessive</p>
<p>Look, this is the problem everyone faces when they desire something they can call "success." It depends on what makes you happy. If you like having lots of money and that is your sole purpose in life, then sure, go for it. However, you cannot guarantee that what makes you happy now will make you happy later. People tend to always desire more, or something different than the norm, no matter how well off they are by any definition. </p>
<p>I think working hard in high school/college is a very small price to pay for a better future. Some people slack off and find themselves in a world of hurt later: "If only I had been a more serious student..." etc. You can still work hard and find time to enjoy other things. My advice is to add some variety to it. Otherwise you will become bored and confused, and never quite sure what it is you actually want to be happy. </p>
<p>My father died almost a year ago, and if anything, it taught me how to live. He worked hard throughout his whole life and I felt like he never had much extra time to do anything he wanted. He finally bought a boat, and, for the last year or so of his life, he had more fun than the past couple decades combined. However, when he died, it seemed a little anticlimactic. All those years of work for such a small-timeframed payoff? He had the money to buy the boat years ago. Why so late in life? The answer is, it didn't have to be.</p>
<p>My motto is to work hard enough to live life comfortably. By this, I do not imply that there will not be times of hardship, as there always will be. But do not mistake inevitable hardships for potential opportunities to avoid them through laziness and/or having fun instead. </p>
<p>One example being money. You can spend some given amount of money now and have fun with it at the cost of not having it later. But saving that money or putting it to some other use will allow it to become more valuable (and abundant) later, allowing more fun later than you would have had now. The trick is not to spend it all now, or save it all for later. Save enough to live comfortably -- to have enough backup, but spend enough to have a good time once in a while. </p>
<p>If you can understand all I've just said then I guarantee you will be better off.</p>
<p>I think you can balance both...now that doesnt necessarily mean you need a 5.0 to get a great job...so go get a 3.5 and be happy...heck I managed to get a 4.4 last year and on the weekends I would go offroading, play paintball, skateboard...just basically go insane and do alot of shiz...i find that it actually helps when studying to concentrate on what Ill be doing next weekend so i can tell myself "hey! its thursday! study and your on the way to a great weekend!"</p>
<p>"I have been doing a lot of self-reflection lately on this very topic. It seems to me that those who want to have fun in life will end up having fun regardless of their annual income. While on the other hand, there are those people who work their asses off throughout high school and college, will still work hard when they enter the real world and end up not having fun.</p>
<p>Think about it. So you have a big house, so you have a sweet car, the fact is you'll still be lonely if you didn't develop some social skill in your early years of life. Besides, its not like you're going to turn into a party animal suddenly after being locked up in a study hall for you entire life previously!!! Is there some point in life where you just have to draw the line and say: "Screw studying for this Calc test, I need to get out and party with my friends!!!" Do you CC'ers think this is justifiable to some extent??"</p>
<p>This is fundamentally a question of personality and individual values. Some people enjoy working towards a goal (or none at all). Some people do not enjoy social contact. I suppose that the method of deciding for yourself is two-fold: figure out who you are and then decide what you want from life. </p>
<p>I believe that once a person has achieved a certain level of maturity, the goal of his life should be to do what makes him happy (some people may never reach this level, so it's not a very useful distinction).</p>
<p>It is certainly true that you shold not work for a goal that you do not value. Motivation must be internal in order to lead to rewarding results. However, it is also necessary to have an eye to the future; you could die tomorrow, but you might also live for eighty more years. The key is to work towards your long-term goals without sacrificing whatever it is you enjoy in the short term.</p>
<p>The thing is, some people don't go out and party all the time in high school because of their parental units. My parents would kill me if I ever came home drunk or anything - they're very protective and smart, and can discover anything wrong if I do it. Therefore I just have fun with my friends and study hard - I love my parents and I know they've really helped me become a smart and hardworking person through the years - but sometimes I just wish I could drive, or party, or something. At the same time its not like I'm antisocial - i just dont like lying to my parents about something so irresponsible and I do have social skills. I love hanging out with my friends and I also study a lot, so I think I have a <em>somewhat</em> balance. Although this year I haven't really hung out with people much, because a lot of my friendships have been broken over the summer...drama...</p>
<p>But basically what I'm saying is that not everyone who doesn't party all the time is socially inept - maybe there's reasons like parents or non alcoholism or whatnot. I think it would be better to work hard and have fun in your free time, but don't just lie around all day on your butt watching soap operas. No matter what you happen to be doing - make it productive or fun!</p>
<p>Actually i personally wish i could sit on my butt for once and do nothing! That would be sooo awesome you guys dont even know...but for some reason me as well as all of you have a drive to achieve even if its not a conscious one</p>
<p>"What would you do with a million dollars?"
"Besides doing two chicks at the same time?"
"Yeah"
"I would do nothing"
"Nothing huh?"
"I would sit around on my ass all day... I would do nothing"
"You don't need a million dollars to do nothing, man. Just take a look at my cousin. He's broke, don't do ****"</p>
<p>i partied away my freshmen and sophomore years, worked my ass off my junior year, and have pretty much had mono and therefore been a hermit my entire senior year so far.(although i dont really mind since summer 05 was pretty much the best time of my life) and yeah, looking back on the past 3 years i wish my grades were a little higher, that i'd worked a little harder. but you know what? i wouldnt trade those fun times for anything. i can look back when this is all over and say that i had some crazy times in high school, without losing sight of my future. so for me its a balance, but more so it is like switching on and off between periods of partying and periods of working myself to death. but after this term, once december rolls around, i will be free free free to enjoy my senior year and do NOTHING, because once i get into college the rest of the year is smooooooth sailing :D (nice office space quote by the way)</p>
<p>Regardless of whether you want to have fun or not, work is a must to succeed. And if you want to succeed grandly, you must work a lot. This is one of those "truths" to life that will not change.</p>
<p>However, you must also learn to work "intelligently." In high school, kids used to perfect grades freak because they realize that they do not have enough time to do everything required to get the As. The smarter kids learn how to prioritize and do the significant assignments and thereby receive the good grades without becoming perfectionists.</p>
<p>Likewise, great people who know how to work become great workers by knowing when and where work is needed most.</p>