One Man's Heaven

One Man's Heaven

It looks like the English Premier League soccer dominates most people's weekends these days. Since ESPN and Starsport started televising these matches live, it has been such a boon to all the entertainment outlets in this region. The timing is perfect--primetime on weekends.

My weekend mood goes up or down depending on how Liverpool performs. Sometimes I can't bear to watch my favourite team play because when you have an emotional stake on a match, you simply cannot enjoy it objectively. If I'm busy working on a project, I'll just resort to taking peeks at live text commentaries over Internet.

"Fortunately" I can't understand why people like to bet on the outcome of matches. Maybe for some people, it increases the excitement of watching these live events. People often challenge me to take bets, but I always decline because I simply cannot fathom its pleasure. Seeing Liverpool win makes me happy but winning a bet does not intensify its pleasure--at least for me--because it is "expected". Of course Liverpool is going to win!

However a bet for Liverpool to win will only make my pain worse if they do end up losing. Betting on the number goals scored is to me quite a meaningless activity. Football is a very unpredictable game--which is also the reason why it attracts many punters.

In general, any kind of gambling bores me utterly. Why waste so much time over seemingly random events? So you'll never find me placing bets. Another "vice" struck off from my list (and I must say, the list is quite a long one).

By reducing my list of so-called "vices", one could argue that maybe I'm also missing out on a lot of "pleasures" in life. Life is short. One needs to enjoy it as much as possible.

True, but as you grow older, you begin to appreciate things you didn't find pleasurable before. A family man finds pleasure spending his weekends with his kids, when perhaps ten years ago,as a swinging bachelor, it would have been unthinkable for him to stay at home on a Saturday night. The family man does not feel that he is missing out on life because he has grown to appreciate the more subtle pleasures that life has to offer.

We will all outgrow certain pleasures in life, but life will always reveal fresh pleasures for us to savour. The kid thinks heaven is a toy or candy store but the virile young man thinks it must to be full of virgins. When you are on your deathbed, how do think heaven will be like?