Published:May 20th, 2008 09:29 EST

29-year-old Man in Cadempino Died While Spitting

Life is too short, it seems that one day we wake up and wonder where all the days and years have gone.

Time is precious and we can't afford to waste a single minute. My free time is devoted to my friends, family, pets and to my great passion in life: Writing. Instead of wasting time playing video games or watching reality shows, I spend most of my free time writing essays.

Too many of us expend too much energy engaged in frivolous pursuits, as illustrated by this article from ShortNews.Com:

"A 29-year-old man in Cadempino died in the hospital after falling from his hotel balcony. He was returning from a disco located in the town's Italian district when he agreed to a spitting contest with his friend.

He decided to take a running start up to the balcony for more distance, but fell over the edge and landed on the street. Another friend with them at the time decided to go right to sleep instead and had no idea what was happening."

The man most likely consumed a free drinks at the disco, his judgement was clearly impaired. But many people, who aren't drunk, care too much about insignificant things. Some guys spend hours and days mastering a new video game, and then go into a deep depression if they lose to one of their buddies.

I want to die at my keyboard, not on a lonely highway -- the loser of a game of chicken.

Moral of this twisted tale: Get a grip! Don't put all your resources and energies into winning a spitting contest.