I’m getting pretty tired of hearing people refer to this “time to get serious” business.
What does that mean exactly?
My interpretation is that it is a time when one gives up their dreaming to adhere to this life structure society has designed for the masses. Basically, finish college, get a job, get married, buy a house, have a kid.
Why? Why is that “getting serious?”
Of the people I know who live “not-so-serious” lifestyles they tend to be happier, focus more on their passions, and are usually able to roll with the punches better.
I see this first hand in my group of friends.
Some work in a startup created by a few good friends where start and end times are basically whenever they decide to come in, end when they’re done, and conclude with a few office brews and rounds of (super) old school NHL ’94. (you DEF know who you are 😉 )
Others work in the service industry, wake up late, kill it a few nights a week to have 4 days off in a row, and bring home some serious dough. A few of them are using the extra cash to invest in real estate and create residual income by becoming a landlord in the Boston area or flipping houses out of state.
And some don’t care about chasing the dollar as much as they just value freedom and can live a minimalist lifestyle, travel on the cheap and work only for a few months when they have to.
I myself was able to tweak some habits and excess spending as well as finding a higher paying job. This created a situation where I only work a couple days a week with a walking commute of 10 minutes. This has changed my life and allows me to focus on school, travel, my social life and my newfound love of hiking. Not to mention, I don’t loathe going to work…I actually look forward to it!
I don’t think I will put myself in a position to be unhappy and overworked at a job again. There are ways to cut spending and still be able to do the things you want. Thinking outside the box is key, and sometimes setting the situation up can take changing some habits and insecurities of “Will it all work?” “What will people think!” “What if I fail?.” Which leads to some interesting introspection….Live life for you to be the happiest you can be, screw what others think, and if you fail, well, at least you tried and you’ll probably figure out what went wrong and will remedy it.
Life is meant to be lived. That is exactly what I intend to keep on doing.
My Fifty Two 