Vavrer everythin' or die tryin'

Taking care of yourself.
Achieving your dreams.
Being happy.
Appreciating life, no matter your age.

That resonates with me.
I’ve already mentioned these things in my previous posts: achieving your dreams rather than dreaming your life away, breaking free from the daily grind if it doesn’t make you happy, finding passions, things that put you in a state of "flow."

Unfortunately, we’re not always helped by modern society, and some large corporations that aren’t really concerned with people’s happiness. It’s a bit cliché to say it like this, but it’s the truth. Junk food, sugar, short-term pleasures, cigarettes, no-fap, alcohol, numbing the masses, idolizing Hollywood celebrities... and I could go on. These are just a few examples of things that can be harmful to our physical and mental well-being.

And we can draw another parallel between reason vs impulse. Smokers will tell you that a good cigarette after a nice meal is a treat. Movie lovers will say that despite some scandals, a certain actor or director is very talented, or that a particular movie is worth watching despite some violent, obscene, or indecent scenes. Some people addicted to certain adult content will tell you that a certain actress is incredible. Foodies will say that a certain pastry is divine. And so on.

All this to say that we can find pleasure in many things, usually short-term, that can harm us in different ways over the long run. And many of these things tease our impulsive desires, despite our reason telling us to avoid taking action, knowing the negative effects that could come later on.

That’s why we need to develop a strong mindset, a determination to “vavrer everything,” to avoid any form of vavrezine or auto-vavrance (see the definitions on www.vavrezine.com). Setting limits, objectives, and a purpose, and giving ourselves the means to get there. Putting ourselves in the best possible position. Knowing ourselves well, too, so we can recognize when we might be weak. Being aware of all of this.
"Dream big, set goals, take action," as it said on the cover of a little notebook I gave to my son. It may seem like nothing, but when you stop and think about it, it sums up the essence of everything I’m saying. In French, it’s something like: "see the big picture, set goals, and take action."

So, to accompany this text, which is meant to be inspiring and motivating, here are three videos to watch.
They’re relatively long, but they embody this idea of “vavrer everything” in 2024. Because times are changing. And today, we’re facing new challenges. It’s hard to gain visibility as a content creator when we’re all overwhelmed with videos from everywhere and music. Everyone is a YouTuber, a streamer, an artist, an entrepreneur... (just to caricature the situation).

With the boom of TikTok, we’re losing more and more of our attention by endlessly scrolling. We can even get lost among all the health coaches, fitness programs, and other channels aiming to avoid vavrezine. To the point that it can have the opposite effect; making you think, after all, we’re human, we only live once, and we want to enjoy life too. Who cares about the diet, who cares about the cigarettes and alcohol, we’re all going to die anyway, who cares about the no-fap challenge, after all, I’m not hurting anyone...

The stomach takes over because our heart lacks willpower, we lose sight of our long-term goals, we lack wisdom...

But NO, I say NO, guys (guys, girls—when we say "guys" in English, it includes both genders).

Let’s save ourselves!

Generation Z, but also Y, and why not even X. (And Alpha, but for the most part, I doubt they have enough perspective or maturity to think about everything I’m talking about here... later, In sha Allah, I hope for them, anyway.)

It’s never too late to do the right thing. Let’s stop comparing ourselves, putting ourselves down, self-sabotaging, lowering ourselves—in short, let’s stop auto-vavrering. Everyone has their own situation, their own goals (the famous “jihad an nafs”), their own time. Let’s forgive ourselves and move forward. Knowing that we remain human, so we’re not perfect, we can fail. But the most important thing is to try, to get back up, to keep hope alive.

Just like quitting smoking (and I know what I’m talking about, believe me...). The most important thing is to keep trying, even if you relapse. Find alternatives, try different methods, seek advice.

And whatever the challenge is, we are always, ALWAYS, proud of ourselves when we manage to overcome our weaknesses and fight our demons, when we look back, if it leads to improving our physical or mental health, giving up bad habits and adopting good ones, reaching our goals, and realizing our dreams.

So, the first video is to motivate content creators in this era where standing out and getting visibility isn’t easy. If you love what you do, really, then persevere, and it will most likely pay off in the long run. And if not, at least you’ll be proud of yourself and what you’ve accomplished, even if the results and audience weren’t there.

And the third one is to understand the impact of the TikTok phenomenon, endless scrolling, YouTube shorts, Insta reels, and the importance of our attention. Because if we want to succeed, we need to get organized, be able to focus, and cultivate a certain level of discipline. A lack of attention is often at the core of the problem when it comes to a lack of discipline. The more we’re able to stay organized and block out distractions while following our plan, the closer we’ll get to achieving our goals.

The second one is to motivate the younger generation (Gen Y, and later the Alphas), but also the older generation (Gen Y and even Gen X), to put themselves in the right mindset for success, by developing good habits and trying to avoid auto-vavrance.

As always, to you reading this, I wish you to achieve your dreams, find happiness, be at peace, and be happy ❤️

Péo