My definition of Meaningful existence is to enjoy every aspect of my life even the so called mundane parts of it.
Conscious way of living is non reactive way of living. Learning to be at one with yourself even when you’re alone. You don’t actually need another to be happy and at one with yourself.
I suppose getting older has certain advantages especially if you’re fit and healthy. Which enables you to do the things you love. Such as sailing and living an active adventurous life.
One main advantage of an older age, and I don’t think of myself as being old, is you’ve lived a quite long life and experienced many facets of it.
I never enjoyed working for other people or being tied down to one dedicated job. I’ve always liked to live a life of freedom of choice. Never knowing what’s around the next corner of my life and experiences.
Even when I was a soldier I never liked the feeling that the government owned me. I do admire people who have had one job for the whole of their lives or worked for only one company.
But that’s not me I would find that an awful feeling of been totally shackled or tied down to a repetitive existence .. Very different if you work for yourself or you happen to have a gift for say singing or painting or photography and making a career or livelihood-from that gift.
What’s my point? The modern western lifestyle I feel is a toxic form of living. Recently one of my brothers had a mental breakdown after 22 years working for one company he suddenly found he couldn’t cope with his job anymore and he got into online gambling and his life suddenly spiralled out of control! Lot of debt and finally personal bankruptcy!
Now when I see him which isn’t very often he’s completely on the edge and appears angry with himself and his life. I read about a handsome young guy happily married who committed suicide over his online out of control gambling! I thought this isn’t a rare case but part of the modern cyber world of addiction, polarisation and radicalisation.
I realise there isn’t blue print to life but I do feel we need to have a moral set of principles to keep us grounded. To stop us going down any dark holes and there are many pitfalls in the modern western consumerism life styles. It’s designed to make us completely dissatisfied with life. In many cases put us into financial debt. Let’s face it western capitalism is based on debt! The more the merrier! It’s like one big Ponzi scheme.
Ponzi scheme definition; Pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes have many similar characteristics based around the same concept: unsuspecting individuals get fooled by unscrupulous investors who promise them extraordinary returns in exchange for their money. Buying things you don’t need or want that designed to make you feel happier with one’s life
Suppose why I choose to live a more non structured unconventional way of living. Yes when I was younger I did conform to a so called “normal” life style. Regular job a house with a mortgage, a car and so forth. But that changed for me when I had mid life crisis in my mid 40’s. Did I change it yes it was pretty radical but I did it in healthy way. Not driven to drink or drugs or gambling that was not for me.
I left my wife and my home, why? I had stated a small business in 1987 and made few mistakes along the way with the wrong type of partnership. In 1992 we had a currency crisis called Black Wednesday;
In Britain, Black Wednesday, which occurred on September 16, 1992, is now known as the day when speculators “broke the pound.”
This euphemism is used to describe the moment in time where market forces coalesced to force the British government to exit the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) by removing its currency and interest rates went up to 15% scary… it was not long after when I decided to closed my business had to sell our home due to high mortgage interest rate payments which had a profound psychological effect on me. Which caused me to suffer from insomnia and depression. I found it really hard to function properly on day to day basis for many years afterwards.
This political currency problem had massive effect not only on me but many other U.K. small businesses. I did what I thought was right and and started my own business which I loved. In life Governments make the wrong choices to be fair like the rest of us. But these choices have consequences which can immediately have dramatic effects on businesses and peoples livelihoods and psychologically wellbeing.
Like the 2008 financial crisis and governmental choices such as with Brexit and the Corona pandemic. However that said these things do come along in cycles and that’s part of life and as they say “what doesn’t break us can make us ” it actually can be a wonderful opportunity to re-evaluate one’s life but at the time it’ was a painful process . But never ever trust any politicians especially the ones we have in power today they haven’t got a clue about peoples personal finances .
When I was 50 I decided to make a new life for myself. I don’t recommend this action for everyone by the way! Being a contract welder I specialised in pipe welding which allowed me to travel widely. Mainly in the oil and gas industry. Working in oil refineries offshore rigs it allowed me to earn relatively good money and the freedom to pursue my passion of scuba diving and sailing. I never looked Back. I did a 4 year sojourn to the Caribbean between 2007 – 2010.
I learnt to sail at the British Offshore Sailing School on the River Hamble my life took an amazing turn and sailing really gripped me as hobby and pastime.
Why sailing? When I was 50 I tried various adventure pursuits but it was scuba diving first followed by sailing. Sailing gave me a sense of freedom, I enjoyed being able to go where ever I choose.
Why is modern western life so toxic to our health and well being?. It’s values are not conducive to giving us a sense of harmony with ourselves and the world about us.
Materialism and consumerism is like being on one big merry go-round. You buy stuff you don’t need and you slowly get yourself into debt and financial servitude. For what to stroke your ego and keep up with the latest fashions.
The lower your financial overheads the more freedom It gives you to make choices with and about your life. For me debt is form of entrapment or enslavement.
Conscious living is about being aware of your outgoings and keeping check on your spending. Basically the more you earn the more you spend the less you earn the less you spend.
The U.K. also has a high cost of living its expensive to live in the UK. I know when I’ve lived in Spain and Italy the cost of living is much lower such as groceries and public transport.
I don’t own a car I use public transport or walk and cycle everywhere. Funny when I hired a car for a week recently I didn’t walk as much as I would without a car. I’m retired so I don’t need one. I prefer to walk as I enjoy the exercise and the fresh air. I have Fitbit watch which monitors my steps heart rate and sleep pattern. I average walking steps at over 13,000 per day.
I find walking good for you health and psychological well being. Sailing is extremely active and it great for losing weight with constant movement which helps you loose weight.
Living in a conscious self fulfilling way is focusing on something you’d like to achieve in life, at personal level for instance I wanted to start a website blog, or maybe you want to learn a new skill like painting. Focus your mind and visualise you doing this new skill. The visualisation is really important when I use to scuba diver I would visualise each dive from start to finish. I do the same with sailing visualise my plan consider weather, the time I’ll leave, try to have the moon rising if possible shining down for my night sailing passages.
When you visualise your plan and you execute it it’s sends a powerful message to your subconscious. Especially when your plan goes exactly as you planned it! Our minds are extremely powerful when they are directed in this way.
I have always thought our minds are the key to our happiness and a fulfilment in life . You must discipline your mind and train it always be in control of your emotions and your overall being. Living consciously you will check your thought patterns especially if they are producing any negative ones . Say to yourself I must stop thinking these negative thoughts, be selective in what you read, hear and watch. Hence the negative aspects of social media and news papers which tend to be more negative then positive ! Negative news creates negative thought patterns and take us down the Alison Wonderland rabbit hole. What we can’t personally control we must discard.
Never forget your mind is your most powerful tool you have.. Cultivate it with positive stuff. Your mind can make you feel happy and fulfilled . Always be vigilant with your thoughts if you loose control of your thoughts, you can become constantly negative, those thoughts have the capacity to destroy your mental well-being Why is western life plagued with anxieties and depression thats down to negative thought processes.