22:22

By Naproud Cherchawankul

Even though this book contains the lessons I learned at 22, it's written for people of all ages.

I wrote it for people who don't know what to do with their lives. I wrote it because I don't want anyone to live with regrets. I wrote it for people to free themselves from everything that holds them back from reaching their full potential.

I wrote it for us to move forward and build the lives that we want.

It's very short and concise and I kept it to what's most important. It is the ultimate instruction manual to living life freely as yourself.

This book saved me, so I hope that it saves you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Naproud Publishing
• Release date: Oct 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223145462

Book preview

Author’s note

Dear reader,

This book saved me, so I hope that it saves you.

Since entering adulthood, there have been many times where I have wished there was a guide to life - and when I was unable to find one which was sufficient, I decided to write it myself.

That is the book that you are reading now.

With love,

Naproud

The myth of Pandora’s box

In Greek mythology, there is an origin story that explains how evil enters the human world.

In the beginning, there were gods, titans and men. Prometheus, a titan, stole fire from the god Zeus and gave it to men, allowing them to start civilization.

As a punishment to mankind, however, Zeus decided to fashion the first woman. She was created by the gods, all of whom gave her a gift. Her name was Pandora, which meant ‘the one who bears all gifts’.

Hephaestus blessed her with perfect beauty, shaping her from clay, Aphrodite gifted her femininity, and Athena taught her crafts. Most importantly, however, Zeus instructed Hermes to teach her curiosity.

Pandora was sent to the world with a box¹, and instructed never to open it. Yet with her gift of curiosity, it was inevitable. She opened the box, and in doing so released all evil spirits into the world; hardship, plagues, misery. Too late, she realised what she had done and quickly closed the lid. But at that point there was only one spirit that remained left inside - Hope.

I didn’t write this book with Pandora’s myth in mind, but it became something I couldn’t forget after I finished typing out the last chapter. There are multiple interpretations to this myth. Some people understand Hope to be an evil spirit like the others, which prevents mankind from giving up and causes even more suffering. Some think that how Hope remains trapped in the box is fitting, because we live in a hopeless world. The interpretation that I like the most is that Zeus (perhaps with a shred of empathy, and a lot of maniac psychopathy) packed Hope into the box with for humankind to have something to combat evil with. Hope remains in the box with Pandora because it is the only spirit that remains by our side, in our possession, and close to our heart.

1. Your life is your own

This book argues that these are the necessities in life:

1.  Food

2.  Water

3.  Shelter

4.  Love

5.  Happiness

6.  Health

In today’s world, we can simplify this even further:

1. Money.

With money, we can buy food, water and shelter.

2. Love

3. Happiness

4. Health

This book is also written with the assumption that we all do want a life where we have an abundance of these four core ‘necessities’. Even if you don’t believe that all these things are necessary, you may agree that a life with money, love, happiness and health is one which you aspire to have.

Aside from this, though, there are other things that you may feel like you SHOULD, or MUST do or achieve. In adulthood, the typical milestones are:

Getting a university degree

Applying for a job with the highest possible salary

Climbing the career ladder in your chosen field

Getting into a loving relationship

Reaching a stable place in your career

Buying a car and a house

Getting married

Having children and sending them to school

Retirement

Having grandkids

Death

Maybe not exactly this, and not exactly in this order (although of course death has to come last), but you get the picture. 

If you have achieved these things, you will have what is considered a ‘good’ life. ‘A ‘successful’ life. It is probably what most of your friends are working towards, and likely to be what your parents did before you. It is nice, normal and acceptable.

Most of us may have a general idea of what our lives are supposed to look like based on what we’ve seen from those around us, whether that be conscious or subconscious.

So before we go any further into this book, I want you to think carefully about the idea of what ‘life’ should be like in your mind. Do you have the list of your own milestones in your head?

And now I’m going to give you the most important line in this book. After reading it, I want you