“What is the world’s greatest lie?” the little boy asks. The old man replies, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.” — from “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho — An inspiring fable about following your dreams.
Once upon a time — not too long ago…
It was towards the end of the sixth 12 hour day in a row — I was sitting in my cubicle staring at my monitor. This 70+ hour work week was no different than the many that came before it. Being on salary meant I only got paid for 40 hours, but despite this discrepancy, I wasn’t unhappy.
And I’ll admit it, I was comfortable. I had a routine. Gym, work, gym, sleep. Repeat. As a result of my routine, I was as healthy & as fit as I’d ever been.
And in the midst of the global financial crisis, I was grateful to not only have a job, but very fortunate to actually continue to get paid to be creative for a living. I considered myself to be one of the “lucky ones” and assumed my life, on the whole, was as it should be.
But as I was about to leave work that night, I had the thought: “This isn’t what you’re supposed to be doing”. Whoa — where did that come from?
I responded by doing the most rational thing I could I could think of — I shrugged it off. But the thought came back the next day…
“This isn’t what you’re supposed to be doing”.
And again the day after that. It was nothing, if not persistent — so I decided to give it some attention. I figured if I did that, then it go away and I could go back to living my “comfortable” life.
Needless to say, that isn’t what happened — because when I started actually thinking about what I was doing, it raised many more questions than it provided answers.
Was I doing what I was supposed to in my life — and what happened to my dreams?
Was sitting behind a monitor so many hours a week really “living” or had I turned into a robot just going through the motions?
Was I really directing my life to where I truly wanted to go or just doing what I thought I was supposed to?
And where exactly was it that I was heading anyway? — and that’s what really scared me.
With those questions in mind I looked into my past, considered my present, and projected into future. And that’s when it dawned on me that I’d been letting my life, dreams, aspirations & opportunities to fulfill my potential pass me by.
And then there was eL-Oh-Ve-Ee…
Where was “she” — the missing piece of my puzzle? How come we hadn’t met yet?
Maybe working all those hours behind a computer — in a totally male dominated industry — wasn’t allowing our paths to cross. Sure, I dated — but I didn’t want “a date”, I wanted something much more significant than that — and I hadn’t found it yet — and I wasn’t willing to settle.
I knew what I wanted — it was simple — everything. Chemistry, love, passion, romance, a connection on many levels, and a true partner. How far would I be willing to go to find that? What kind of sacrifices would I be willing to make in order to make myself more visible to my fashionably late female friend?
The “break-up”…
I daydreamed about what my life might be like if I “broke away” from what appeared to be a common, well-trodden path in life and instead, made my own. And then I took it a step further — I thought about what I’d have to do or sacrifice to make what I wanted to accomplish happen. Nothing major really. Just comfort, security, and stability — ok, wait! — that’s pretty major! It scared the hell out of me. And then a surprising & life altering event occurred…
I did it.
I took a leap of faith — I quit my job, terminated my lease, and sold (or donated) everything that wouldn’t fit in my 4Runner.
And then set off on a crazy adventure ”personal journey of discovery” to break away from the life of the robot I’d become. To rediscover my passions. To attract the love of my life. And to bring my life back in line with the one I imagined.
That was over a year ago — I’m still going. And this journey has completely changed my view of the world and my place in it…
Also see: Why I quit my job, terminated my lease & sold everything (blog post).
