Stop Procrastinating... Do It Now! Do It Today!
How many times over the past few years, as I struggled to break free, did you hear me say; "We've got to wait... I can't just walk away now... Things aren't right yet... I need to squeeze a few more dollars out... we hit one more snag... A few more chores..." yadda yadda yadda...
And... most importantly... what did that waiting, my procrastination get me?
In a word... NOTHING.
Actually, Less than Nothing. As in, if I'd just followed my own advice, done what deep down I Knew to be right... cut my losses and taken what I could get, for what I had, on THAT day... more than four years ago... I'd have been FREE now for more than four years...
As in, from a totally Material standpoint, it cost me more than $100,000 to Wait...
That last, gasping, grasping, spasm of materialism cost me a lot of dinero... but in the end... taught a valuable lesson... Live now... Live today... because there is no guarantee that your imagined tomorrow is gonna come. I waited on a better tomorrow... and lost the shiny today...
Where do I stand now? Materially... I'm broke... or what most people would consider broke... A few blown tires... or an expensive repair, and I'll be in the red... bummer...
Emotionally, Spiritually, Philosophically... I am FREE Baby! HooYa! I still have more than I absolutely need... I can live on, and with... Less... so... worryin' 'bout what might happen is a waste of time and energy...
... I can't climb over the barricades up ahead of me, until I get to the damn things... and you never know... following my nose... I might just accidentally, wander clean around the flanks of those obstacles without ever knowing they were there in the first place.
... and you know... If, you stop and think about it some...what exactly, are those obstacles?
Most of 'em are built with nothing but bricks pressed up of with all our worries about our THINGS.
Consider this for a minute... an attempt to put this idea into perspective...
I sit here owning two laptops... what if one of 'em got dropped out the door or even both of 'em?... and a passing vagrant grabbed 'em and ran off... never to be seen again? Heartbreak right? nah... hassle yes... catastrophe? Nope... it's just a mechanical thing that can be overcome. What if one of my cameras got stolen?... What if... I really busted the truck?
What if, what if, what if!!!! Enough! What if nothing bad happens and I look back and see forty years lost struggling to chain up the imagined demons hiding in the closet?
Such things might be unpleasant... some might could be real, major, pain-in-the-kiester difficulties, but none of 'em take the breath out of your lungs... or the dreams out of your heart...
What'll I do if/when it happens?... I'll just stop... brew up a pot of coffee... take out a pen and some paper... tally up what I have left... calculate what I need to move on... put one foot in front of the other... Crack out and go on Living!
Does any of this "Minimalism" thinking mean everything is sweetness and light? Or that Such a Nirvana is my goal or even realistic? Seriously? Get a grip...
Nothing in life is ALL sweetness and light... It's a certainteed fact that you are gonna hit a wall here and there. You are gonna fall down and bust your chops... You are gonna get hurt... Guaranteed...
So what!
To put it simply... Seen in the glorious, fiery, sparkling, crisp air of Uninhibited FREEDOM... the bumps and potholes that we will always encounter, become pretty insignificant.
What provoked me into another Sermon from the Boondocks?
Well... a while back, not very long but... where or when is lost in the fog now, but somewhere I was sent, or stumbled across a link to the blog of a Gal... Nina Yau... Castles in the Air
A girl who has set out to Change the World... Ambitious gal huh? :)
... and I was reading some more of her chastisements this morning... KERWHACK! She has a way of gettin' right straight to the Rat Killin'! ... and... hitting the proverbial nail... square on its proverbial head!
This is a young woman who can say it like it is... and... uh... sometimes... she ain't too worried 'bout being politically correct or especially gentle with her words! :o) which makes the point she is working to make, crystal clear... no confusion or ambiguity from trying to mince words and not Upset anyone in her writing!
She is, in her philosophy, Awesome and Inspiring... and... she's so young, her wisdom is hurtful! To think she got to where she is at her age... What the hell have I been doin' to take so long! :o) and gutsy too... I like it.
So... Where does that leave me? Us? Am I saying now, today, throw all your possessions out in the street and walk away?
No... What I am saying is... Put it all in proper perspective TODAY... Start making your decisions based on Life, and Spirit, and Dreams...and FREEDOM...
NOT... The preservation of Possessions and Materialism... Make that change in your thinking... TODAY...
OK... one last caveat... and I'll cut you loose... I cannot tell you and haven't the right to tell you... what you have to do... That decision is yours and yours alone.
What I have done... is what I needed to do for me... I also believe parts of the trail I've followed might help you put a high shine on your own life... but like Nina says in her video; If you tell me you're happy in your life, as it is now... I'll believe you... but... remember... You can lie to me... You can lie to your friends... You can lie to your family... You can lie to people you talk to on the street... but... You Can't Lie To Yourself...
Do what you want, when you want, with what you've got, as best you can. Don't fear failure or the future... Follow Your Freaking Heart... TODAY!
Just a Man... Free on the Earth
Brian
Return to the main site of goin' RV Boondocking or Visit my Sister website Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road
A broken down Ol' Cowboy goin' RV Boondocking ...
...and Yondering, to the beat of a different Biker Cowboy Drummer
8 comments:
Well this was some post. Gets a person to thinking. which I am sure that is exactly why you wrote it. Keep them coming, my friend, I am waiting. How is the next book going? Hope you are finding peace wherever you and Heidi are sitting.
Word.
Your philosophizing kicks butt.
Roxanne
As the top of my blog says: Don't wait, Tomorrow starts now.
Fear only holds you back. Gotta' live for today in the NOW. We don't own "things", they own us.
I first read the following quote about 5 years ago. It has continued to reinforce my belief that other than friends and family, there is nothing I really need in my life. The fewer the possessions the better!
A QUOTE FROM STERLING HAYDEN'S BOOK, WANDERER
To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?
Sterling Hayden
Brian....all I can say is "AMEN BROTHER!!!!" We finally stopped worrying about the "what ifs" and just cut loose. That, my friend, is the best post you have every made. You are seeing life as clearly as it is possible to do so.
Clarke and elaine
Geez, you gotta make your rants shorter. I devised about seven comments as I read, each replaced by the other.
Nah, just kidding. Keep the rants coming. Good stuff! I'll just add a response I made to a comment on my retirement blog:
"Ya, most of us just aren’t wise enough when we’re young. I am amazed at those kids that seem to get it. You know, those kids that ride snowboards or surf or ride skate boards and find a way to make a living. I used to call them losers, but now I think maybe they had it right and I was the loser."
Below is one of my favorite quotes and I do my best to live by it.
"There is only one you for all time. Fearlessly be yourself."
- Anthony Rapp
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