r0dman.com

Anyone who has read a few posts from this site – r0dman.com would realise that I have a few issues with the way that people live their lives. Not so much individuals, but large demographics.

It’s not so much that I don’t approve – it doesn’t actually affect me, it’s that I see so many people failing to perform and I would honestly like to see them achieve.

We’re on this planet for a maximum of what, 100 years? It sounds like a long time but as a 25 years old I already realise that I am a 1/4 of the way through a best case scenario.

I think about my parents, newspaper articles, stories of grandparents, movies, and so on and what people have and haven’t achieved in their lives. Everyone effectively lives the same life;

1. Go to school
2. Go to work
3. Buy a house
4. Have children
5. Wait for the children to leave the house
6. Retire
7. Wait to die

Granted that’s a fairly subjective way of looking at it all, but if you break it down, it is what most people do with their life and what many more will do.

People are concerned with the small things along the way. For instance during the younger working years they might be able to buy a nice motorbike. Their friends at the time will tell them that they have “made it”. Years on they will have seen their children through school, and being so “successful” they will have funded their children’s tertiary education. The children move out, they retire at 65 and then go on a three week cruise with their wife. They have won the game of life.

…Or have they? Chances are this same person has spent the last 45 years working a job that they hate. They always wanted more time with the kids but couldn’t afford to work fewer hours because of the mortgage. Their kids are on track to live the same life as them because of how they were brought up, and unfortunately the cruise was a challenge more than anything else because they had to spend so much time in close quarters with their wife who they have lost touch with after years of stress and neglect due to their work.

As children we have these dreams of being all sorts of things. I remember wanting to own a black Porsche 911, being a BMX champion, live in a rainforest, and so on. Things that most adults would put in the “unobtainable” category. Are they really that ridiculous though?

Granted nowadays I lust over a Porsche but know full well that the money spent on one would help me attain many other things ($200,000 would bring in enough income every year for me to justify taking a day off of work every week).

These supposedly unobtainable goals are the ones that keep us excited and ideally, happy. I strongly believe that if I’m not happy, my wife won’t be happy. This means that while I always take her into account, from time to time I need to be honest to her about what I want from life. The alternative is “forgetting it” and ultimately living a life of regret.

Our society breeds mediocrity and no one can break you out of this mold aside from yourself. If you are very lucky a close friend or loved one may push you, but ultimately it’s up to you to make the choice to break free.

Start to define what you want from life, then start living your life in the direction of achieving your goals.

It’s not to say that you need to always be meeting goals and turning your life into some sort of statistical report, it’s just important to make sure that you are where you want to be or on track to where you want to be. Goals could be as simple as “be happy” or be ridiculously complex too. My goals are relatively simple, although will require some effort from myself and my partner.

I want to remain free, happy and healthy. I DON’T want the same lifestyle until the day I die. I don’t want the same job, same bills, same day to day frustrations and hassles. I want the both of us to be able to change when we need it. When our lifestyle becomes one that doesn’t facilitate a good relationship, we’ll change. Ultimately everyone has the ability to do this, it’s just that many people tie themselves down and then it all becomes too hard.

Think about what you would like and start to work towards it. Try not to think too much about possessions, they will come with the lifestyle that you want to attain.

If life isn’t how you pictured it would be, make some dreams.

I’m currently on a 3 (or so) month backpacking trip with my wife, which will be mostly through Europe, before trying to find work in Canada for the rest of the year. It’s a completely new feeling to me, being the first time I’ve been out of the country and honestly, out of my comfort zone.

We both have a backpack with “the essentials” – clothes and toiletries basically.

When we were first packing, it didn’t seem to be enough – it was as though we were leaving all of this “stuff” behind. We felt as though we would never survive without it, but within a day or so that feeling completely left us. All of a sudden I realise the freedom that a light backpack gives you.

At home, when you are tied to many things – friends, work, possessions - it’s very easy to say no to things, because of all of these other external factors, but it is such a feeling of freedom when you remove them from your life. We can make last minute decisions on changes to make; we can literally get up and move in about 2 minutes if we want to.

I’ve only realised the power of freedom over the last few years. With so many possible commitments in life, it’s so easy to become intertwined in things that most people consider “life”. Contracts are a huge one – phones, internet, etc. Car loans, home loans, etc. They lock you in, and as a result, your decisions for the next “x” number of years.

I have no ongoing commitments at the moment – I’m tied to my wife and that is about it. It’s such a breath of fresh air, and I’m loving it. Who knows, maybe my opinions will change, but to be honest I doubt it. Life is great right now!

I haven’t posted much lately because I haven’t been able to articulate my thoughts. There’s just so much going on in my head right now.

I’m unsure about my diet – I don’t know who to believe and what to believe.

I’m unsure about weather patterns it’s affect on the future of this country – I always try to be two steps ahead, but I really don’t know where my fiancee and I should live when we return from our overseas trip. Water is of great concern to me, and from everything I have read and heard Adelaide doesn’t have too brighter future.

I’m unsure about finance – nobody can be trusted anymore. Worldwide, economies will do anything to hold power via money at any cost. Australia’s population is planned to hit 35 million by 2049 despite the environmental issues, in order to keep property values from crashing, keep the economy “booming” and to supposedly keep our nation secure. Do we try and place our money in the perfect location to try and “win” from the instability in the world right now? Do we just do as everyone else does and keep our money in property, assume it’s the best investment ever, or do we just exit the world as we know it?

On top of all this, I just can’t see how I can bring a child into this world. My fiancee feels the same way. It’s just not fair to be making a decision like that. We love kids, but without knowing our own future, how can we possibly bring someone else into the world with that uncertainty?

There are so many to list, and while I want to consider them all and decide where I stand and what I want to do, I also know that I need to clear my mind. I think way too much and need to relax.

Interesting times…

Freedom is probably my favourite word. If there is anything that I want from life, it’s freedom. True freedom.

It’s interesting how we change during our lives. As a child we are completely free. We are happy to attempt anything, laugh and play and run and smile and whatever happens happens. Never thinking of the consequences, just acting in the moment.

As we begin to grow up though, we learn that there are consequences to our actions. While this is healthy – learning for ourselves that we can get hurt from jumping from something too high – we also learn a lot from our parents. We are told not to climb too high – “you will fall and hurt yourself, come down please”, told to slow down on our bike – “don’t go too fast, you will hurt yourself” and told not to eat too many lollies – “you will feel sick if you eat too many of those”. It’s not a negative thing – parents look out for the well-being of their children.

From the innocent advice given by our parents when we were young, we are then bombarded with why not to do things. Fear on TV, fear in the paper, fear everywhere. If we aren’t given the advice directly by the TV, our parents are. Stay in line and everything will be ok, you will be safe, but be different, and who knows what will happen!

Most people, myself included to an extent, grow up into people that just conform and do the same as everyone else. We no longer laugh and run around and jump and do whatever we choose. We know that if we laugh at the wrong thing people can be offended. We know if we run around and jump up and down we will look like an idiot, so we take the safe option.

We all call it “growing up” and “being sensible”, but from my experience most people hate the constraints in which they live… They crave the freedom that they had as a child, it just takes a long time to realise this.

It seems almost a textbook lifestyle cycle for the Baby Boomers – my parents’ generation. They were born, free spirited fun loving children, then “grew up” and did the “sensible” thing and bought houses, had families and so on. Now as the kids are moving out, they are wanting their freedom back. Some may be rich enough to buy a holiday house, some travel around the world by plane or on a cruise ship, while others buy a caravan and drive around, stopping wherever they please. It’s becoming less and less common for them to just grow old in their house nowadays.

It’s been something that I have been aware of for a few years now, but only now am I piecing it all together. Humans are creatures that are born in nature. We need our freedom to be sane. Early this year my fiancee and I made the decision to lead a life of change. We will still buy a house. We will still “be sensible”, but we will force ourselves to retain some level of freedom in our life. By “mixing it up” we hope to lead an exciting life, with plenty of choice and an easy going lifestyle. We don’t need a lot, but we need our freedom.

I’m lucky enough to have been sent to Queensland this week for work. I am here to attend a training/conference/expo of sorts called Microsoft Tech.ed.

Upon arrival to the conference I was given a HP netbook – a HP Mini 2140 to be precise. I’m a massive geek and I love this thing (I’m typing this blog entry on it right now).

I just can’t believe how image driven Queensland is. I know everyone, everywhere is somewhat driven by image, but never before have I seen people so driven by image that their lives evolve around it. Talking to Queenslanders, watching them walk around on the streets, seeing the numerous mini trucks, heavily modified v8′s and turbo cars everywhere, not to mention people riding choppers, etc, etc – it’s just a state driven by looking good – at any cost! They are all trying to keep up with eachother, even though only few of them can afford to.

Obviously this sort of thing happens everywhere – certainly in Adelaide where I live, but just not on this scale.

While I’ve been here I’ve also had some time to catch up with my sister who lives in Queensland too. It’s been great to catch up with her, and finally meet my niece – who is just awesome.

Spending time with my sister and her family has once again reinforced my opinion that “things” and ”stuff” is just so unnecessary. I completely understand that people need their hobbies, they need their few luxuries, but at what cost?

This isn’t a dig at the state at all – it’s beautiful up here… In areas anyway. I’ve considered the idea of moving up here a fair few times now (although never seriously enough to talk with my fiancee about it). I just don’t know if I could keep up with everyone else. I really think that to survive in Queensland you need to be very career drive, have very well of parents, or be happy to live a life of eternal debt.