Panda flips over a bucket, taking a seat. He looks around him, judging everyones expressions.

Alright fellow mafioso, I come to you today with a question. A question that is quite deep and somewhat inquisitive. Whenever you turn sixty, when you look back over your life; will you think you lived it to its fullest? Do you think that you can look back today and say that you have not wasted your life away?

Everyone has always questioned existence. Everyone chooses to seek out their own path on how to live their lives and it ends up the same everytime. The person looking back on their life and questioning if they did everything right. If they took enough risks, or made the wrong choices. My question to you is quite simple. 

You can take this any way you want. I just want to hear honest opinions from the fellow mafioso of this community. There is absolutely no set context in this question. I want you to search your mind and find what you feel the question to mean. Then answer it.

Why breathe, if you are not living?

Panda smiles and watches the men and women search their brains for the perfect answer.

The majority of people here won't know that they've wasted their time here until it is too late. At the moment I imagine the silent Dons and Consiglieres, probably enjoying these ranks for the first time in their bloodline's history, will think they are on top of the world and wouldn't change a thing. This is until it is snatched away by someone who didn't sit on their hands the entire time admiring themselves in the mirror.

I spoke elsewhere recently along these lines. People should always grasp the opportunity that they have been given, but complacency often accompanies periods of peace and increase prosperity. We see lower standards and overachievers who do not deserve he accolades they've been given. How many of those will come to regret their own silence or reluctance to do anything when their time is up?

My guess is that the majority will feel like that and even the more successful among us will harbour regrets, mainly because our time wasted or otherwise, is finally up.

Also, "Pandaing Life" would have been a more appropriate title.

~T~

I must agree with Tallien once again (Stop making good points for once, so we can argue!), alot of high rankers in todays Mafia have not always earned the right to be that, high rankers. We see many silent Dons and Consiglieres regulary now, and it is accepted as common practice. I hate to be the one to say it but, "Back in the good old days" rank was extremely hard to achive as Peace such as todays didn't last nearly as long.

I also have to agree that these people whom have achived such high ranks do not realise what they have, until it will be taken away from them. They are far too content to sit and smile at their new rank than to actually do something with it, like make a change in this world. Or even have any kind of street precence for that matter.

Once your time is up, should it be long or short lived, you should never regret the actions you take or failed to take. Sitting and doing nothing can be worse than making the wrong choice.

Tis funny, I was having a conversation similar to this not too long ago with a friend of mine.

See this friend of mine has always had trouble staying faithful in relationships and recently another one has ended. He seemed pretty cut up about it but at the same time continued on in his usual fashion with other women. I asked him why he did it, if he was so cut up about losing this last girlfriend why cheat, why not just find someone he's happy with and settle down.

His reply was a little shocking at first, he said that while he was cut up he wouldn't change who he was for anyone. It's not that he couldn't stop himself from cheating but he didn't want to.

I then asked him if he had any regrets, his reply was a simple no.

He goes out there, does his thing to the best of his ability and experiences everything there is on offer, I hazard a guess that as his time draws to an end he won't look back and wish he hadn't screwed up a relationship but will look back on it and have a huge grin on his face for everything he experienced.

Okay I know it's a little off tangent but the sentiments are the same. If ya don't experience everything then your missing out on so much. Life goes by fast and if you don't stop to smell the roses, or say talk on the streets you'll miss a whole different world.

When I'm 60?  I don't think many of us will make it to 60 to be able to spend a little time looking back on how we lived our lives.  I think we'll be too busy living our life, and maybe...just maybe, we'll have a minute to think about our life as we lay in a pool or our own blood and wonder.  I might wonder about where I went wrong to end up in a pool of blood, or I might just lay there content that I accomplished what I did. 

I agree that you have to live life to its fullest.  If you sit on your hands and do nothing you are being cheated by life.  Problem is you probably won't know it because you're too busy sitting on  your hands. 

I think Dante (see, I said your name correctly this time) tells an interesting, but very sad story.  If that is true about that friend, then I'm sad for the existence that he leads.  I think I'd define "everything" differently than Dante's friend.  Everything to me is finding success in everything you do.  Everything is finding the one who fits with you to experience life together.  But that's a little off topic too. 

When I look back - I want to be able to lay there (even if it is in a pool of my own blood) and just feel content that I did everything I could have possibly done.  That I was honest with life, and life was honest with me.  And that I got everything out of life that life expected me to get.

Do you mean Deimne, Will? I'm totally lost.

Grin.

~T~

Tallien I said a friend I didn't name any names for a reason and now you've gone and....oh I've said to much.

turns and scarpers

"I think Dante (see, I said your name correctly this time) tells an interesting, but very sad story.  If that is true about that friend, then I'm sad for the existence that he leads."

My friend this is an opinion that you have presented, as if such a life was your own. You would not be content with such a life and it may be very sad to you. However, if this 'friend' of Dante's is truly content with this life then there is indeed little to be sad about, for him at least.

To the point of the original poster: A life is not wasted if it has been enjoyed, or to the use of others (in my opinion of course). Currently as a lowly rank in this world, I can only perceive for the moment that the former will be true for me (though I hope that the latter will also become true), and so I do not foresee regrets crossing my mind.

To the question of 'Why Breathe, if you are not living?' To put simply I believe the answer to be obvious. There is little point in Breathing a life that has not been lived. However a life that has been lived means many different things to many different people, and perhaps a good question may be, what does 'Living a life' mean to people?

+ID+

Indeed, Identity. That would be a very good question as well. "Living a life," to me means that you accomplished everything you set out to do before you died and you passed with no regrets. If you can look back when you are 60 and say you have led a good life, then you will have nothing to regret.

Panda shrugs and continues to work with the question in his mind.

I believe everyone will look back over their life and no one will be completely satisfied, we all make mistakes which we later regret. We live life for those special moments with either a loved one or simply with friends, those monets that you would not miss for the world. Life is one big puzzle, when you choose a path you can either think that it was the wrong one and change your mind, or carry it on and live it to the full.

Everytime you are feeling low there will be a little thing to make you feel at harmony with the world again. You just have to look for these moments, because every cloud has a silver lining, excusing the cliché. Even if you are constantly moaning about your life and if you have the darndest luck, you will still have those moments that make it all worth it.

And even if some say how bad there life is, if you ask them if they would give it up they woudl say no. There is something about life that is intoxicating, and people will cling onto it as long as they can.

Terry, xxx

thats a good point haha