A little except from "What Should I Do With My Life"

Last few weeks after I read on Ultramarathon, I stumbled across my old bookshelves for any books that I have not completed reading. It could be that I grew bored while reading this book as it perhaps does not stimulate my fast-thinking mind or perhaps I am not in the right frame of mood. Anyway, I saw this red book with the scribbed word "What Should I Do with My Life?" which was written by Po Bronson, our generation writer.

Let me summarize the content of this book from its back.

"Po Bronson's new book tackles the biggest, most threatening, most obvious question that anyone has to face,

What Should I Do with My Life?

It is a problem, he explains, that is increasing encountered not just by the young but by people who have lived half their lives or more. With the intoxicating days of the 80s and 90s behind us and the world entering recession, many people are being forced to confront their real aims and desires. And the modern route to self-discovery, Bronson suggests, is to trade what you have for a completely different way of life.

Bronson's book is a fascinating account of finding and following people who have uprooted their lives and fought with these questions in radical ways. From the investment banker who gave it all up to become a catfish farmer in Mississippi, to te chemical engineer from London who decided to become a lawyer in his sixties, and the institutional investor who gave up his job and moved, disastrously, to Germany on a whim; these stories of individual dilemmas and dramatic - and sometimes unsuccessful - gambles are bound up with Bronson's account of his own search for a calling."

As I read through the first few chapters, fragments of memory of those people who are determined to cruise through their lives in search for their inner callings and how they learnt to deal with ups and downs. Of course not all of them are successful in their quest for their callings and somehow, for those who are unsuccessful in their quest may find themselves spiralling downwards in the quicksand of depression with altogether give-up surrender.

I would continue to update this post while I read along these chapters. I only stop at Chapter 11 but I thought that it is good to document some insightful of why they did, and how they overcome their difficulties in their quest for their callings. And also, it could be a good source of reading materials for others who are interested to explore. That is why, this blog serves as an inner sanctuary to document my inner thoughts and also cross-fertilize with others as well. They are welcome to give their comments freely if they want to. Pls note that it is based on my personal observation which differs from others.

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Chapter 3 - Synchronicity or not

" The thing was, Kat never really cared about money. She didn’t spend much and had little desire to acquire possessions. The idea that she needed more money to be free wasn’t her idea, it was an ethos of the industry she worked in. She’d listened to it rather than to herself."

" This hard work had changed how she told her story. Her sense of this choice being “right” no longer hinged on a Tarot reading and a timely conversation with a neighbor. After all, it wasn’t just luck that steered her to a new life. Her heart told her not to take that dream job. Her gut told her not to move to San Francisco. She’d wanted to design gardens since she was six years old. She finally listened to that desire. She would have got here, synchronicity or not. She now got her sense of “rightness” from the joy in her life. She was fulfilled. She was proud of her work. Every day, this “rightness” reaffirmed itself."

" She said many people in her shoes would have taken the double salary in order to save up for the leap into garden design, believing that money is the path to freedom. She didn’t, and she’s found that true freedom comes from the confidence she can live within her means, whatever those means may be. Between her hourly pay and her rented bedrooms, she’s made it work. More importantly, her sense of purpose and meaning aren’t tied to her pay, because she’s getting so much psychic income from her calling. It’s been clarifying, releasing her from vanities.
Kat knew her job would change; she didn’t realize how much she would change, being surrounded by nature rather than technology. High-tech celebrated new ideas and wanted to rewrite the rulebook; horticulture honors wisdom passed down for centuries. The internet treated the world as one big global market. Horticulture respects that all gardening is local; what grows in the greenbelt of Brighton might not grow in London, et cetera. It’s a very different mindset and approach to life. Katt believes nature can teach us, nurture our souls. It makes what she does feel important."