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A Gleeful Step Into Uncertainty: Chasing a Dream

wp-1455639551728.jpegI  SHOULD FEEL excited but it feels like another day but with a bigger to-do list…

The excitement came a few weeks ago when the dream scrolled into view on a Facebook feed called ‘Liveaboard Sailboat’ on my Dad’s PC: a sailboat named Glee up for grabs in the Caribbean.

Butterflies in the stomach had me lean forward and focus in a bit closer. I had the funds but would I have the nerve? This has been on my bucket list ever since I ever heard about bucket lists in my ‘battery farm’ type office job about 10 years ago. Luckily, I had a window that I could look out of and dream myself out of it beyond the car park boundary.

The moment had come and I hadn’t actively been looking for it.

Chasing a Dream

I’d committed to spending a couple of Months at my Dad’s in Houston Texas and now I am at Houston Intercontinental Airport waiting for the flight to Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten to take me to a new adventure. Living on a sailboat in the Caribbean.

I was convinced people would say I was nuts but that didn’t bother me… much. What bothered me most was cutting my family visit short but it couldn’t be helped, and I could always return later.

In fact, most people I spoke to were actually envious and supportive.

After plucking up the courage to force my index finger down on the mouse button, the rest was easy. I had a loose idea of how I wanted to live ever since 2009 when I found out about the fraudulent way money is created off the back of loans and mortgages. I didn’t want to be a part of this system anymore…

Steps into Uncertainty…

Step 1: Clear the crippling debt left by the career-killing credit crunch that left me without an income. Solution? I challenged and stopped paying the legally unverifiable debt.

Step 2: Clear the mortgage liability on a house. a house that I didn’t even want to live in anymore. Solution? I stopped paying the mortgage.

Step 3: Declutter. Solution? Sold, recycled, donated and stored the museum of artefacts that tend to drag along through one’s personal history. This is still an ongoing process.

Step 4: find alternative accommodation. Solution? Purchase 15-year-old van fitted out as a stealth camper and adapt to a nomadic lifestyle, living off grid.

Therefore, this is why this latest move was easy for me. I had little to lose.  I am unencumbered by the financial ball and chain that modern life attaches to each of us. Without having made those first steps, I would have to weigh up the idea of living on a boat in the Caribbean against having a home, family, work and that whole social bubble we all build for ourselves. That’s a big stake in the game of life. Unless you’re pressed against the buffers of western civilization and see first hand how far the decks are now stacked against you, you either fight for your slavery or fight against it; you can’t ignore it.

I’m no longer being played as one of society’s pawns, tomorrow I’ll be living on a boat named Glee in the February Sun… I have little idea of what’s going to happen next but that’s one of the joys of freedom – you don’t need to know further than the next step… the only guarantee we have in life is uncertainty. Learning to embrace it will help set you free.

More in a day or two. I have a plane to catch!

{ 6 comments… add one }
  • Reb February 16, 2016, 5:59 am

    🙂 x

  • Joe Woolsey February 16, 2016, 4:04 pm

    Good on you, mate! Paul, I sincerely wish you the adventure of a lifetime!

    Please allow me a few mire ‘lessons’:

    Practise your knots.
    Put EVERYTHING on a lanyard! Always remember to say ‘Please’ and especially (with gratitude) ‘Thank You’.
    Become fascinated with sailing and study its intricacies as if they could SAVE YOUR LIFE–because they can!
    Post the hard-won lessons here. In writing them, you will learn them twice!
    Laugh. CONSTANTLY. ABOUT EVERYTHING!

    There’s more, but that’s enough for now. Enjoy the book.

    Joe

  • Cara & Rob February 16, 2016, 9:10 pm

    keep us posted Paul,fantasticxxxx
    Lots of love
    Cara & Rob xx

  • Rose Dixey February 17, 2016, 8:31 am

    Wow, how exciting! Good luck with Glee – I look forward to hearing your adventures.
    Rose

  • Chris Cook February 21, 2016, 11:12 pm

    Love it – go for it and enjoy every moment

  • Frank February 23, 2016, 5:20 pm

    I could not resist commenting. Perfectly written!

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