Thursday, April 3

Exploring the Possibilities

Would you abandon your present life for something completely different? Could you, if given the opportunity, give up the conveniences you’ve spent years creating to nurture a new you? Well, yes! I’ve dreamed of winning the lottery everyday since I was twelve. This scenario, however, does not entail buckets of money. More so, it may require effort—and possibly even sweat—to pursue a stifled alternative.

You might respond—as I did, “it depends.” Damn the ambiguity. Allow me to sharpen the contrast and rid the grey. People relocate and transform for many logical reasons: to help an ailing family member, for their employer, their income fails to support their lifestyle, etc. For sport, we will not use obvious logic.

Imagine, instead, a premeditated shake-down of your personal infrastructure. Only the things that make you unique will remain the same: personality, passions, drive, character flaws, name, etc. You can also keep the people you care to associate with. Everything else is subject to change: your address, job, vehicles, hierarchy, and perhaps even hair color.

If your heart rate increases while pondering this idea, and you have a belly full of butterflies, we can assume the excitement is overwhelming. You—immediately—begin packing your bags, assured that a new game plan is for you. Clearly, then, your answer to the question is, “Yes, I would like to try something different. When do I start?”

Perhaps your mind battles the onslaught of additional questions—questions requiring answers that will only validate your hesitation. You become dizzy, firmly grasping familiar surroundings; your chair feels as though it will collapse under your massive determination to stay in it. Obviously, then, the answer is, “No! Whatever would I do with my geraniums?”

So, tell me, are you happily sowing your oats, or shopping for gain? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

All good questions, change makes everyone question almost to the point of not, no matter how much they say they want it. Freedom allows us the luxury to choose or at least contemplate a choice. Taking action on an unknown, is for the daring and adventurous, especially when most things in life never turn out to the degree we have them built up in our minds! So what do we do? Get all the information we can, plan for every conceivable situation, decide if its really what you want and make the choice, then just do it! If it doesn't work out the way you planned adapt your plan or move on, either way you tried something that might be the right way. No regrets... RR

Cowboy173 said...

Great question - would you leave what you are doing for something totally different? I don't think most of us would. There is a new member of my Toastmasters club here in Austin who did do something just like what you suggested. His girlfriend of 8 years and he got married, quit their jobs, sold everything they owned and went on an around the world honeymoon for 10 months. I think that qualifies, don't you?

You and your readers might enjoy checking out their blog at http://roryandrebecca.blogspot.com/search?q=

Having been in the military for 20 years, I often picked up and went to far away places with strange sounding names. It was an amazing experience to be a combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam - even when I was shot down a couple of times. It seemed to me then and now as I look back that life is lived best when it's lived on the edge. As a pilot yourself, I'm sure your most exciting and rewarding moments have been flying - at or near the envelope of your and the plane's performance envelope.

You can't go to second base in life if you keep your foot on first base all the time. A smart friend of mine gave a speech where she said what made her do some nifty things was to heed the advice someone gave her: "Leap - and the net will appear." Most of us are afraid to leap into any new thing. We shouldn't be. We are NOT getting out of this life alive in the first place, so what's our hold up?

I love your blog by the way. Keep up the good writing.

Cowboy173

ihfree said...

The question for me,am I sowing my wild oats or being irresponsible?

Choc. D said...

I love it! Great comments guys. I like where you're taking this.

I agree. It would take an adventurous soul to go through with it. We are--by nature--creatures of comfort, and a complete upheaval is anything but. Kudos to the honeymooners! (And thanks for the link.)

Matt, I don't think wild oats are irresponsible. When we allow our responsibilities to increase, our desire for security follows. As Rich eloquently stated, it's a freedom of choice. Perhaps we choose differently later in life; perhaps not.

One thing is certain: too many hypothetical scenarios leave us cowering under the covers, clutching our bank books.

So to answer your question, Cowboy, yes, I would do it. I have a hard time silencing "what if." And I--definitely--enjoy exploring the envelope.

Cowboy173 said...

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" - Kris Kristofferson - Me and Bobby McGee

Wise words to heed. Heading out and doing your "thing" for you only sounds like what hobos used to do and the homeless do now. Might be really romantic for the first month or until you run out of money to buy food and/or shelter. Those pesky things are real and w/o them, we get dead pretty fast.

There are lots of ways to beat "the man" w/o dying in the process. Keeping a knowing smile on your face and making people guess what you've been up to is a great way to get free and to make people wonder.

Say no when everyone else says yes and vice versa. It seems to me that it makes more sense to run towards something than away from something.

At some point you'll find that we all get much more pleasure in life when we figure out that life - even our own life - isn't all about us. You really do get more out of giving than getting.

Without going into details, people thank me for doing what I do for a certain organization where I'm a member. I'm embarrased to take credit because I get so much more out of what I do for them than they get from what I do.

I strongly suggest a great book that answers every question you ever had on anything you were ever thinking about. Title: "Whatever You Think Think Just The Opposite" by Paul Arden

And so it goes ... (know who said that line? hint - Slaughter House Five.

Stay warm and be cool,
Cowboy173

Anonymous said...

What I find most interesting about the question you pose it those who should be thinking it, or even reading it, don't. It is only for the ones who already are brave mavericks. Arrogant, perhaps. But I believe it to be the case. Great post Fawn. -Shawn