What is best?

“…what is best in life?”

“The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.”

“WRONG! Conan, what is best in life?”

“To crush your enemies, see them driven before you and to hear the lamentation of their women.”

“That is good, that is good.”

Some of you might remember that famous movie scene and Arnold Scwartzanagher-Jinglehiemerschmidt doing his best to act. Conan really was an important movie, the first in the genre of barbarian/medieval fantasy. And it had an epic soundtrack. And a fair smattering of gratuitous nudity. I watched it again last weekend and the above scene really sticks in my mind. Not because of the fine dialogue, but because of the question.

What is best in life?

Summon up a dozen people and ask that and you will get a dozen answers. And none of them are wrong. As with most of the big questions in life your own experiences, beliefs and genetics are going to shade the reality of your answer. Ask a man about to drown and he will say air is best in life. Ask an elderly person in bad health and they may say the fact life is about to end is best. I But looking at the answers the Mongol and Conan gave really show that what is best comes down to whether you are one of the two types of people we all are.

The Mongol prince. To him, a horseman, a warrior, those things embodied the moments of pure joy in his life. Being out on the steppes, under the dome of the sky, the wind whipping around you and simply being in the moment. Maybe about to go rape, pillage and burn, bring back something for wife #5 like wives #6 and 7. But what it came down to is the enjoyment of what was around you. A fiend of mine in college would probably say the bite of ice cold Jaeger, the feel of the wind when running 90 down the highway, the taste of beer on a girls lips when you kiss her in a bar. Simply enjoying the moment for the moment. Being

Conan gave an answer that while it seems totally barbaric and cruel (he’s a barbarian, it’s his gig), it is the answer that is more mature, more responsible. Conan was bred and raised to do one thing. Fight and kill. And he was damn good at that job. His worth was in the ability to conquer an enemy, take a head, bring the spoils of war back to camp. Conan today would answer a great performance review, a 5% annual raise, faster computers and a clean bill of health on the annual prostate exam. What is best is what will help him provide results. Doing

Simply put. Most folks are either being or doing. Either you are driven to get something done or you’re in the moment and don’t care about what comes next. The problem lies in that the doer often overlooks the things in life that make it worth the doing. You’ve killed everyone in two continents and realize you have no one to share the spoils with, no Valeria. The being is simply content to ride in the wind and hunt and pillage and ignore the ambush and ends up on a pike pole in someone else’s camp.

Life is about finding a balance between these two aspects. Bust your ass at what you do, be the best at whatever your field of endeavor is. But realize why you’re doing it and take the time to enjoy the spoils of the war you’re waging.

Later…