Life is What You Make It
There are several moments throughout our lives where we’re presented with an opportunity to change course, to take a different route towards a different version of our self and our future.
To live is to experience a series of choices and consequences, and the choices that we make inevitably move us from where we are now to where we’re going to be. You are always making these choices, even when you choose to do nothing at all.
…as appealing as doing nothing at all can be sometimes.
Some of these decisions are better than others. We can take a difficult path of action that moves us towards a reality only dreamt of before, or we can choose to stay comfortable and allow life to lead us.
We are each navigators of reality, our vessel flesh and-
Look, I’m not a philosopher, I’m just a dude who’s trying to re-frame a daunting moment in my life into something I have control over.
I’ve been saying for far too long that I need to get out of Dundee. It’s not a bad city, there’s just nothing for me here. I’ve been saying it for far too long and yet I’ve not taken the necessary steps towards leaving, besides to travel intermittently. I’ve chosen to stay where I am and do nothing rather than taking any risk, hiding behind the excuses of “I’m in debt. I can’t afford it. I don’t speak the language. I’ll wait for a better moment. Fucking Brexit”.
Well, a few things have unexpectedly slipped into place, and now I have no choice but to leave. The two meter by three meter cell of a room that I’ve fallen back on so many times yet lamented at every turn is no longer available to me, and I’d rather use my income for financial security than for rent. I need somewhere cheap, somewhere that I’ve been before but still feels like an adventure.
I’m moving to Sofia, Bulgaria.
It’s a different culture, a different language, a different fucking alphabet, and it’s almost as far away from Dundee as I can get while staying within Europe. I might have to leave again in a few months, depending on how the political climate goes but I should be okay. That’s what I’m telling myself.
I won’t lie, I’m definitely scared. But that’s fun.
I’m choosing to view this as life giving me exactly what I’ve been asking for. I’m choosing to be grateful instead of cursing fate, and I’m going to take my cards and play the best damn hand that I can.
I’m not trying to make this political, I just enjoy freedom of movement in the EU at the moment.
This, like all other things, is an opportunity.
I think, as humans, we associate environment with behaviour and get stuck in a rut – falling back into unhelpful habits that out brain associates with the visual and mental stimulus around it.
A complete change of environment such as this is a wonderful opportunity for me to change those habits and form new routines that are better aligned with where I want to be in the future.
It’s time to stop daydreaming and actually make moves. I’ve been producing videos around my travels on YouTube, but struggling to make them coherent or interesting – they’re more of a mash of unrelated events and Cathedral reviews. This happened because I need to put more effort and consideration into the content I produce. Up until now I’ve been unconsciously stumbling through the process, choosing a path of inaction and letting life lead me into the things I would film.
I still want to make videos around my travels, but I want to make them more meaningful and interesting. More importantly, I’m taking this as an opportunity to experiment with different kinds of content and move in to a realm of conscious effort and creativity – to document the process of building new habits and challenging myself. It’s my hope that in doing so, I’ll become a better man and provide a source for others to draw from in improving their own lives.
I guess the message here is that life will always throw you curve-balls and lead you to experiences that you weren’t necessarily expecting or prepared for. It’s up to you to decide how to deal with these moments, and whether you’re going to react to them with despair or use them as an opportunity for growth. Things don’t always go the way you want them to, but if you look past your own expectations you may see that it’s exactly what you need. No matter what life presents you with, it’s always your responsibility to find the best path through it.
So here’s to a new adventure! I sincerely hope I’m capable of pulling it off.
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