What the F*ck Are We Doing?

Guest Contributor Markus Almond (Brooklyn, NY) shakes us awake in the first post of Mindfully Spent's Series "Doing the (Seemingly) Impossible." Author of five books, Markus shakes things up on the regular on his blog: Brooklyn to Mars...  

We go to the same place we went yesterday. We keep trying the same things. The same techniques. The same skill levels. Our focus is split amongst many things.

We lack direction.

A credit card bill comes in the mail.

Something good is on Netflix.

What was the dream we had once? Something about starting a business or living in Spain for a year? Didn’t we used to have sex more often?

We get a funny text. Do you think the new iPhone will come out this fall?

Someone forwards us a link to an article on Medium. A young writer has posted in all caps WAKE UP YOU STUPID BASTARD. YOUR LIFE IS ALMOST OVER.

Someone shared a funny video on Facebook.

You forgot about your dream of hang-gliding 3 years, 4 months and 6 days ago.

There is a vague uneasiness when you go shopping.

And your body ages another day.

We look to each other for guidance. But there is no one steering the ship. There is no one telling us to WAKE UP BECAUSE LIFE IS SHORT AND THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING MIGHT NOT BE HERE TOMORROW.

No one is pointing out the sad truth that spending money on junk and fleeting amusements strengthens the bond between your debt and the job you dislike.

No one is encouraging you or pushing you to try the insanely beautiful things you wanted to do when you were a kid. No one is looking you in the eye and nodding enthusiastically when you say you want to hang glide off the coast of Lanzarote.

No one ever responds with “Holy shit! That idea is incredible. Let’s do it right now! Let’s leave today! Let’s sell all this junk and really get back to living!”

No, the common response is more like, “That probably won’t work. What would be the point? Don’t you have a good job?”

Collectively we tend to convince ourselves that what we’ve done in the past is absolutely fine.

Well today, I want to say that it’s not okay. It was never okay.

This quiet approach where we convince ourselves not to dream too big — it’s disrespectful to the universe.

We are not bosom-heavy chickens dying in crowded cages. We are alive and we are free. We are totally capable. And the doors of opportunity are wide open.

Having the courage to trust in adventure is a choice. Following true love is a choice. Making life count is a choice.

It’s up to us to leave these bland, uninspired routines behind. We’re not going to be here forever. The people we love with all our hearts may not be here tomorrow. Let us snatch up the possibilities of today. Let us be true examples of courage and lovers of life.

Let’s disconnect the cable and tell Ikea to stop sending us catalogs. Let’s finally take those hang gliding lessons and invest in some light-weight wings. Let’s run full speed toward our dreams and take full advantage of our time on earth.

This post originally appeared in full on Markus's blog, Brooklyn to Mars.  

Special thanks to Mathias Erschens for letting us use his beautiful photo for this post!

COMING SOON.

• The Process of Purging: Guest Contributor Katie Oaks Weiler Stephens writes about holding on to memories while releasing burdensome possessions. 
• Building a budget for 2017 that bowls over debt and puts us on track to live below our means (finally!)
• Five (or more) tools for the financially hopeless!
• New Year Reflections: A January series to deeply explore what is meaningful to you and prioritize accordingly

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