What does it take to make you realise you’ve been living your life wrong?
Sometimes you whisper under your breath ” I hate my job” and wish that all could be changed.
You wonder if there really is a way off the treadmill that you have created. You get up at some ungodly hour to the sound of an alarm clock and trudge off to work.
For some its quite the opposite they leap out of bed go to the gym and then consider themselves mentally prepared for work. They study hard and achieve their performance targets and thrive on being part of the team.
Unfortunately I have lived both of these lives and still feel like there is more to life than having to work so hard to get the toys that this lifestyle brings.
So with the strength of both myself and that of my wife of almost 15 years we together are going to embark on a new journey
We call it Downsizing.
On October 5th 2011 I met a car, sounds strange but let me explain that I was riding my motorcycle when the car pulled out of a side street and left me nowhere to go.
I hit the car just behind the front wheel. Should the car have pulled out another 3 feet I would not be here to write this story as I would not have been thrown completely over the car, my body would have taken the full impact. I landed on the road after rolling face down. All I wanted to do in that moment of sheer pain was to be turned over onto my back and to see the sky.
A strange request from someone who had a pain in my neck and blood pouring from the back of my knee.
At that point all I wanted was to feel the sun on my face, this was the moment that would define the rest of my life. All I want is the sun.
This video is not me, but is the closest I can find of that moment…. Please take the time to watch.
The ambulance arrived and placed me on a backboard and transported me to hospital. At this stage there was no way of knowing what damage I had received.
Elena arrived at the hospital at the same time as the ambulance arrived. She could hear my moans as I drifted in and out of consciousness.
Hearing words like he has multiple injuries, lacerations to the rear of the knee and the thigh may be broken. The neck brace is on as we have to x-ray his head and neck for injury.
All Elena could do is wait as I underwent test after test to ensure that I was OK. At times I would wake up and talk, then drift back into sleep, the drugs were strong and kept me from feeling the pain.
I survived and with less injuries that some. It took 3 months for the large hematoma to beak down on my thigh. I would get daily massage and acupuncture and physiotherapy. I could’t fly during this time through fear of the mass in my leg breaking up and causing blood clots. All the while the pressure from management to return to full duties at work was being asked (yup they wouldn’t leave me alone).
Today I wear a long scar to the back of my left knee now as a constant reminder that sometimes in life you cannot control the actions of others, but you can fight on and change your life to suit your needs.
My needs now are simple…. I want to feel the sun on my face.
All I need to do now is exchange what I am currently doing to achieve my goal.
It means that we as a couple must let go of the trappings that we struggle each day to pay off and reach a point in our lives were we can travel and enjoy each day. To not be jealous of others and the trappings that they create for themselves. For we know only too well what this type of lifestyle is and what it will eventually bring. No longer do we need all the mod-cons that come with working, watching TV and sleeping bring.
Don’t want to give up the sleeping though…that’s healthy.
So, now we’re embarking on downsizing, swapping our old materialistic life for that of being free and being able to wake up in the morning and literally leave a country on a whim. To be able to live out of a backpack and truly be free to control our own destiny and fate.
Career, yeah…. right, lets call it what it is…. A prison without walls.
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