Chapter III
You should now know why you want to follow a path of darkness. And also what it is you want to achieve. At least, you should understand a delicate fraction of this construct forged upon your brain. The whole story could take destiny to unravel. And with a glimpse of one’s telos, we can attempt a plan of action to attain our goals. To explain the situation for a pitiful excuse of human being (to simplify the situation and allow understanding): if my main goal in life was to be a great fencer, then I would know what it was I wanted to become, and I would act accordingly. I need to be a good athlete, and so fitness, diet, nutrition, exercise regimes and such are the plans I should follow.
Time is endless, and I have no wish to spend eternity trapped within meager walls of weakness. Time is an enemy, and you cannot fight it, but you can show it respect, bow down to it, and get on with life with as much formality as possible. We can be subservient to it and utilize the little it gives us, or we can be disrespectful, attempt to fight the battle we will ultimately lose, and not even gain the little it gives us. Logic dictates the former.
Last summer I worked in a factory. On one side of the floor, I had 3 machines called wickers to attend. The wicks they were threading came from behind, and needed maintenance. To get behind I had to duck under a conveyor belt. It was a horrible height. A few outcomes occurred. First, I would duck under it backwards and forwards at pace, and cramp my neck to get under it. I strained the muscles and it wasn’t a superb outcome. I worked the environment inefficiently, and it devastated me. I bid you do not run your time around inefficiently, for it will mutilate you. Do not procrastinate. The second outcome was that I failed to duck enough and smashed by head upon it. I used correct method inefficiently. If you want to spend your time reading, you can read 24 hours a day, and still be inferior to others reading 8 hours a day, if their reading is more efficient. The third outcome was where I understood, I respected, and I bowed down, with my knees, moved forwards, and regained my posture. It made me bow down to it, but I came out of it able to do what I needed. This is life. Respect it, and you will be able to utilize its gift; disrespect it and it will kill you off as worthlessness.
The third task of the dark student is as follows. Within your journal keep a distinct timetable of how you utilize your time. Map every minute of every day for a whole week. The time you get up, the time you spend in the bathroom, the time you spend eating. The time you spend in between these actions. The list should be very extensive and nowhere near perfect upon completion.
After the week create some lists. Useful activities, useless activities, and no activity whatsoever. Remember, sleep is a useful activity, as is relaxation through enjoying oneself with friends or such.
Map the amount of time you spend in each column. A thing to bear in mind when calculating times within useful activities is Aristotle’s doctrine of the mean. Some activities are useful, but that doesn’t mean they require doing 10 hours a day. The first hour may be useful and the latter nine useless and a waste. Be critical. The more critical you are, the greater you shall become.
Group the latter two columns together and calculate a ratio between useful activities to the rest of ones time. The dark master utilizes every second of everyday towards improvement. He is a scholar of perfection. So the next step is to improve your ratio. Be realistic, but remember that humans CAN realistically push themselves further than society whispers to them they can. Set targets of improvement. As the percentage becomes better it will be harder to increase by the same amount, remember this as your life goes on.
In the fourth week of every month calculate your new ratio. After time as you improve you may only need to calculate the fourth week of every third month, maybe even every six months, but constant critique is necessary.
It is pointless to tell you how to spend your time efficiently. I don’t know your telos, and it is unimportant to me, it is a matter for you, your heart, and your heart only. If you wish to know why, think back to your night of contemplation. If this doesn’t give you the drive, you are not dark, give up now; do not waste your own time, other paths exist to enlighten and this one is not yours.