Free of the Rat Race! (free write 4/19/10)

"Buy the ticket, take the ride." - Hunter S. Thompson
"Think from outside the box, collapse the box and take a fucking sharp knife to it." - Banksy

So last week I caught the midnite showing of Banksy's new film "Exit Through the Gift Shop". I found it to be a fascinating examination of the street art scene. I have always loved "street art". Being a SoCal native I have held the privilege of constant exposure to the very best graffiti and I never tire of taking in as much as I can when I am in the city. But seeing that film really set me on fire. Witnessing the culmination of the artists and their creations is so inspiring to me. These are people who live with out fear or limits. They take risks for their chosen form of expression on a nightly basis while the world sleeps, or right out in broad daylight while the world sleepwalks. These artists really live their lives by their own terms and are free because of it. The majority of the population does what they are told, or what they feel they have to do to survive. As a result most lose control of their lives and wind up enslaved to a system that can be heartless, detached and cold. Life just passes them by as they participate numbly and then they wake up at 40 and think "oh my god what have i done with my life?" No wonder people suffer mid-life crises in our society. Men were not created to spend most of their time in a little cubicle. It isn't right in my opinion. This is the land of opportunity and people are allowing themselves to be slaves to the petty and material. These are things of in consequence, if you really stop to think about it. But we are so conditioned as a society to think and live a certain lifestyle that we get caught up in the whirlwind and then we don't know any other way. WAKE UP PEOPLE! Time is the most precious commodity. Why spend it in ways that you don't enjoy? Why are you stuck in that cubicle? You have options. Whether you realize it or not. I know that it can be scary and intimidating. But most adventures are. And that is really what life is. One big adventure. That is if you allow it to be. Live life on your terms. It's too short not to. And let me tell you, I used to be consumed by the "American Dream". Get the education, the corporate job, the house with the picket fence and the 2.5 kids. I was just going with the flow, following the pack, because I didn't know I had options. I thought you are either a bum or an employee, and maybe sometimes if you get lucky you can escape into some other realm. But I realized it really has nothing to do with luck. It has everything to do with mindset. Where is your mind? My mind was trapped in the Rat Race. The only function I knew to operate off of was fear and survival. Over the last year various influences such as Robert Kiyosaki, Darren Hardy, and John C. Maxwell, have opened my mind to a mentality totally foreign to me. I have learned that we all have choices, and ultimately we are the only ones responsible for how our lives are lived. It doesn't matter what has been done to us, whether we were the victim at one point or another, we choose how to respond to those situations and adversities. We also choose our employment and lifestyle. Who says you have to work for someone else or do something mind-numbingly mundane? Who says you have to rely on the government or some other entity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? And if they do, do they seem truly happy and fulfilled? More than likely not. In fact many people don't really understand what true happiness and contentment are. They confuse it with the material. "Oh well when I have this job I'll be happy." "When I get done with school I'll be happy." "When I get out of debt I'll be happy." I am sure that you have heard this or even said it yourself. I know I have. But I have come to realize that happiness, contentment, fulfillment, these are things that are created within the mind and soul, and have nothing to do with outside forces. If you cannot find happiness at your lowest lows you will never sustain it at your peaks. Many find it hard to understand or digest these topics I have been rambling about in this piece, which further exemplifies the power of mindset. Since I have learned to develop and grow my mind outside of the traditional I am experiencing life in an entirely different way. I feel like I have been sleeping my whole life and over the last year I have been waking up. And now that my eyes are open to this bold new mentality, I feel liberated. Knowing, really knowing, that ultimately only I have control over how I live my life, frees me to examine opportunity and adventure in ways I never knew existed. I am going through one of my lowest lows right now, as are many Americans and even people all over the world, but I can honestly say I am happier now then I have ever been. I am excited for the future and what it holds, and pursuing my dreams and goals with a hunger and passion that is borderline frightening. Like many Americans today I don't have much faith in the economy, the government, or the job market. But I believe in my own potential and in the potential of others. And once that is channeled and the potential realized, that is really all that matters.