Why we do it
November 5th, 2009
Life is hard, and I don't think that I'm putting anything new out there by saying that, just stating a fact. Life is hard for one reason and one reason only... we make it hard. Most out there are doing what they think they should be doing. They are clean cut, mow their lawns, and pay their neighborhood dues.
But I'm forced to ask, what example are we following? Where did we get this idea of what we "should" be doing? Maybe we are following the example of the ones before us, our mothers and fathers that worked so hard to make sure that we had good upbringings and we are just continuing with the motions. Or we could be following the example of God, but if there is a God, I don't think that he would have a BMW with his credit cards racked to it's max. If he did, I believe we'd have credit cards in hand when we left the womb. The media certainly seems to have a hold, telling me what I must have, what I must do, and what kind of life I'm supposed to relate to.
But I don't buy it, any of it. I don't feel that the quality of life is measured by the size of my TV or what kind of car I have in my driveway, or that I have a driveway at all for that matter. Life is too short to let someone tell me how to live my life. In the words of one of my favorite artists, Eddie Vedder, "I know that I'm born and I know that I'll die... the inbetween is mine."
And it's not for me not trying to fit in to this society. I gave ten years of my life to this society. I bought the house, I got the nice car, and I filled my house with everything that was new and shiny in the stores. I would buy something new and for the first few minutes I would feel satisfied.
But it didn't last.
Soon I "needed" something else. Something more shiny and more new than the last thing. And so the hunger could never be satisfied. I was addicted. I needed more stuff, and to get that stuff I had to work more. The mailbox became crammed with credit card bills, but for every bill there was an application for a new card. Thus giving the fuel to my ever-dying fire.
I was miserable playing their game. I had to get away from it.
The material possessions that are supposed to make us happier and life easier were the problem. That's when we got rid of it all.
All of my life, I had dreams of one day doing this or one day seeing that. With the life that I was living "one day" was never going to be today. My dreams were going to stay just what they were... dreams.
That why I do it, that's why I live life on the road, that is my choice. I want to constantly see and do more. Appreciate every blade of grass, every rock along a trail, every breathtaking view from a summit. I want to meet different people, to hear their stories, their takes on life. With every new experience I feel that I grow a little more.
Granted it's not always sunshine and rainbows, you still get curve balls thrown at you. But now I look at them not as a hindrance, but as a challenge. And it just makes my journey from one side to the other that much more exciting.
I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life, merely how I live my own. I may be here for another 60 years or I may be gone tomorrow. And I don't take much stock that anything is going to be waiting for me when I go. That outlook may seem depressing for some of you out there. But for me, it makes everyday that I'm breathing all the more precious and I know when my last breath comes I will have no regrets that I didn't try to live my life to the fullest.
Everyone has different dreams of how their perfect their life could be. It could be traveling, it could be helping others, it could be to raise a family. But whatever it is, it's up to them to decide. No one else has that right. Just make sure that when your last breath does come, you know that you made your life your own. Want to vent too? Hit up the forum or just comment below instead.
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