r0ammild
Tales from the other side:
Periodically my thoughts wander back to the glory days. My mind's gaze meanders backward in time like a stream in reverse, flowing backwards over the rocky sum of my adventures, way up back to the headwaters. With all that has passed, it feels appropriate to share a hard-earned perspective that it took me so many years to possess. After all, I really cannot do much else now. Age and illness have taken their toll as the decades steadily clicked by. I always knew it was a race against time, so I did not waste much of it and thus my adventures are many. Adventure takes time and time is all that we really have on this amazing little planet earth.
I like to think that my investment of time and money into seeking adventure was worth it. Even with a negative financial ROI, I'd pay my way again. But, for most of the people I knew, the price was far too high. The types of adventure I purchased cost me much more than just lost time working to "get ahead" or being useful at home. Sure, chores were postponed or never done at my home and opportunities to impress the boss with weekend or late-night work were often missed. Instead of children, we had pets. Instead of leverageing career-mobility to acellerate advancement, I chose the slow lane to slug it out in my preffered location for twenty years. Then a big change to another preffered location for another ten. Rather then move into management, I stuck with my trade to protect my weekends. So yes, the price was high but my wish now is to share these tales of adventure for those who might be weighing their own balance of adventure against the demands of modern life. All souls host some spirit for adventure after all. So, this then, is how I managed to "r0am" mild and wild. Perhaps it will help you decide how much adventure you can afford.
The fact is that our experiences on this planet are unique. Each of us will confront a different set of opportunities, social conditions and constraints. Each of us originate from unique geographic locations and inherit a fixed circumstance at birth which cannot be easily changed. With that said, any comparison of one life to another is senseless. For you, everything might be different, but I suggest that your challenge will be the same - how to use your time, what to prioritize in your life. In my humble opinion, it is not the beginning nor the end which matter, it is only the journey between. This story, my story, is the journey of an American male born in 60's timeframe of middle-class parents within the upper American mid-west. The times of my r0aming was good -- no war or social upheaval. At least so far anyway. It will be up to you, to write your story. I hope it too, is one full of adventure!
