I am always amazed at what freedom is felt when we are doing exactly what we love to do when we are immersed in our favorite things, the moments that we reflect back on fondly. These are the memories that comfort us in the present and allow us to realize all the future holds. What are those things that we reflect on and why do we not live them a larger percentage of time in the present? Why do we focus on the gathering of money and possessions and neglect the things that bring us joy? Why do we feel that if we make enough money that we will be able to retire in ten years and the ten years continues to be ten years as each year passes?
I have heard it many times to do what you love and love what you do and I wonder why so few seem to follow this simple recipe to lifelong bliss.
What is humanity losing out on because we are blindly playing a game of follow the leader? Who will be the person to break ranks and disrupt the steady flow of inhuman treatment of so many for the gain of so few? When will it be too much? When will we have gone fast enough? When will we slow down and realize that life is not a competition, that it is an experience that all should flourish in?
I, for one, will not spend time feeding my years of service in an effort to make it those ten more years to retirement. I will spend moments of each of day doing those things I crave to do in retirement. I will find my purpose and share my thoughts and connect with those that are interested in what I have to say and ignore those that try to brainwash me into believing that I am someone I am not.
We all have choices. Not everyone is needed in the corporate structure and there are places a person can be that will give the corporate structure a human edge and that is where you will find me. I will be the person that is getting those things done in those hours owned by a company but in the time that is wholly owned by me, I will be writing and painting. I will be creating that which lives within me. I will not worry about those tasks that are waiting in an inbox that lives in an imaginary cloud where data is stored.
In the end, no one will really remember me for the business e-mails I wrote, they will remember me for the images I created through my painting and my writing.
I will have no fancy title assigned to my being, I will have just been. What I will leave behind will be my words expressing the experiences and thoughts that I had and the images of what I saw while living on planet earth.
I hope that others will join me in being who they are meant to be. Break line and be creative. Enjoy the wind on your face, the sun’s warmth, the sound of the crashing waves as they roll in. Notice the rhythms of those things around you. Notice the randomness of all things that become patterns. Piece together the patterns that intertwine to create the web of life that is all around us just waiting to be explored. Break free and live the life that only you can live. You will be glad that you did and you will not feel the need to retire because life will be a fulfilling journey that only you can take.
Raissa, Yes, we do all have choices and I never want to lake my last breath with regrets because I did not make choices that made me happy in life. Thanks for the reminder.
Your article strikes a chord with me. When I worked a fulltime job I wrote every single day. I might have missed a few days a year. I did things to feed my soul. Now that I had to retire (not my choice) I write letters, but never write articles, never blog, and while I spend all my hours meeting people in real life, I have lost the expression of my inner self in writing, reading, and engaging as I once did.
Jane it is never to late to get started doing something you loved to do. I would love to hear what you inner self has to say.
Perhaps you could write a story about how you feel and maybe the muse would sneak out
Yes yes yes- this is the footprint we leave that makes a difference
Exactly! It may have taken me half a century to figure that out but so happy I finally figured it out.
Boy are we on the same page. Love this.
Yes, yes we most definitely are!