We're all very, very busy. We have emails to answer, planes to catch, phone calls to make, member of more than 10 Internet forums, planes to catch, and we're constantly reshuffling schedules to squeeze in new meetings, each more important, more urgent than the last. But every now and then, we get a signal: life should be more satisfying.

Have you ever found yourself counting up the days to the weekend--- and it was only MONDAY?
We start searching for daily pleasure to reward ourself for just getting through another day: ice cream, Starbucks, shopping, or going out for dinner. Some people even believe that a two week vacation once a year is enough to keep them feeling happy and fulfilled. is it right that we spend so much time planning our next escape?

When we were small, we blew out the candles on our birthday cake believing that all of our hopes and dreams would become real. And when Jimmy cricket urged us to wish upon a star, we all tried it, at least once. So when exactly did we stop wishing? When did we start doing the things we had to do instead of the things we wanted to do?

When did our dreams get buried under the responsibilities of adulthood? Now we sense that something needs to change, but we're too busy to stop and think about what it is. We long for those forgotten times when each day's accomplishments filled us with joy and excitement, when we embraced life with energy and enthusiasm, when there were million special days. The first day of school, the night before our fifth birthday, summer vacation, our first kiss...all of these were momentous achievements that make us feel almost giddy inside. But now we sometimes feel as if we're stuck in a great big rut and, as the years go by, the rut keeps getting deeper and deeper. We sense loss, understanding that we were meant to do more. Our dreams feel so far away and always seem to be just out of reach. But they're silly dreams, we tell ourself. Get real. After all. we have a job: earning a living, we have responsibilities, we can's go off chasing crazy dreams. Besides, It's scary to think about going out on limb. But the dreams just won't go away and they keep popping up, wish we had anti pop-ups. If only dreams came with a guarantee. Then we'd be as secure as we're now. Our job is secure, Right? Wouldn't it be awful to live our whole life and then say, wai wai Wait! I need another chance. I just wanted to try this one thing.

Remember how scared we were to take the training wheels off our bike? or how much courage it took for that first kiss? Nothing stopped us then.
So what's stopping us now?

money to get through life maybe?

And dont forget also some people live to work others work to live.
It is true I would like some more free time sometimes but when I was unemployed I Had no money and therefor could do very little.....

Thats just the other side of the coin

Then: We had our parents to take care of us

Now: We have to take care of ourselves plus others who depend on us

I love to work...and be paid for it...I also do a lot of work that I am not paid to do, plenty of fun things that I am paid to do...my parents have no plans of ever 'retiring' - they love their work, and their work gives them lots of things they can't have if 'retired'...workaholics ? perhaps...full and rewarding life...definitely...

Let me tell you something...I luv your post (not in a homo way...and I do have gay friends, so I don't mean it in a discriminating way). I might be considered a nut amongst some of the people here in the forum....but I keep it real. What I write is what I feel. I still wish upon shooting stars...and when I was a little boy, my dad urged me to take off the training wheels..but I always refused...until one day. I asked my dad to take off my training wheels, and to his surprise, I took off like Lance (yes, Armstrong).
Either way, my point is....we are too insecure as individuals and we stopped living because we either worry too much about everything...about what people think, whether Billy will turn out to play soccer rather than dancing ballet...etc. I believe that in the end it all doesn't matter...but what matters is whether you tried everything that you ever wanted to do at your own pace.

Check this out....(forward on to 12 minutes)

The Coffin Academy.

"Can facing up to your death, change the way you live your life ?"
Very interesting. A failed suicide attempt led to this guy's eye, soul, mind and heart opening project.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode...ok_18_01_2010/

i love to work and get paid for it.. yes ..once upon a time i used to wait for saturdays...i find lots and lots of happiness ... i feel satisfied...i feel happy .. and i spread happiness... but...i am unemployed now a days... actually when we have work we have money and no time...when we do not have work we have lots of time but no money... oh..thease stupid circles...but you know what at the end of the day i am satisfied ... thinking..... i gave my best..

I reckon that most of us are about half way through our lifespans on this forum and if you're still waiting to accomplish that thing that you always wanted to do, then you'd better get a move on and get to it. You had all these childhood aspirations because you didn't know all the facts at the time adults didn't take you seriously, so you lived the dream in blissful ignorance. As you develop you are cloned for the system and add crap to your rucksack along the way and feel that you need to keep everything that you picked up along the route. Commitments to other people, to your chosen career and money lending institutions will stifle your dreams. Less is more, it's a given.

Each and every year I choose to travel less, but enjoy nature around me and appreciate the small things around me and the people that I get to know. Everyone you meet and everything you do is just another piece of life's puzzle.

If I may just quote from Pink Floyd's Time (great literary source for someone who doesn't read fiction...) "And then one day you find, ten years have got behind you, no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun...."

But should we all be aiming for the stars? I don't want to be some famous singer or..I don't know, conquer Everest or something..or whatever those wishes are supposed to be. I'm very happy with my little life - lovely fiance, nice home where we can spend a relaxing evening with our cute cats. Parents are fine, I have good friends, an interesting job that also pays well enough so I can afford nice things and plenty of trips to places I want to see. Should I be missing something and aiming higher if I'm happy with.. the way things are?

I just want to be happy with my life. If I see a chance to fullfill my dreams, I go for it. I don´t live to work, but I work in order to live. I had the great opportunity to make a childhooddream come true and bought a horse 6 years ago. I´m grateful for it every single day in my life. For many people that´s nothing special, but I don´t care about that. Now that I´m an adult, I have the chance to live the life I want to. To follow my own way and to chose the right decisions. I don´t need more money, it wouldn´t make me happier. I have a job I love, a great family and friends who stand behind me and who help me when I have the feeling that I lost the ground under my feet.

I haven´t reached all of my aims yet. There´s always something which is worth to hold on to and to move on. And yes, I love my life.

I never had any dreams or ambitions, never had any wishes for the future - and I haven't been disappointed!

Simple!

"Aiming for 4th, because nobody wants to be second best"

...that's always been my motto in life

yup. life is what happens when you're making other plans.

you can still do loads while holding down a job. in fact, you can switch and choose jobs to do what you wanted to do.

i travelled to places i couldn't wouldn't have gone to because of my job. when i wanted to move to switzerland, i got a new job here.

i have more money than i can sensibly spend and have enough time. yes, i could do with more money and more time, but i could say that no matter how much money or free time i had.

if you only do stuff at the weekends then you'll always be short of time. i think the trick is to do things on weekdays. you just need to muster up the energy and drive.

i never realised until 2 days ago that i wanted to choreograph a Thriller dance routine incorporating drinking shots - but now i do and am in the process of doing it and finding practice space and like-minded nutters to make it a reality.

ultimately, i don't believe it is lack of money or time that stops you from doing what you want to do or getting what you want to get - it's all down to drive, ambition and energy.

for you I don't know.

for me......

I've lived in my town for 27 years. Like many here, I just couldn't ignore the fact that the world is so vast and my time to see it is so short. I decided that instead of just reading about all the places I wanted to visit, I was going to live there and experience it first hand while I was still young and unburdened by any real responsibilities. So in two weeks I'm moving to Switzerland. For those who've been there for a while, it might not seem like a big deal. But for me, I'm at the same time excited and nervous, looking forward to the big day and also dreading it as it rapidly draws near. I'm sad to leave behind my family, my friends, my career I studied so much for -- but I'm also happy because I'll meet new people, make new friends, and build a new career.

I'm sure you can all remember what it was like to first move away from home to come to CH. The excitement, the adventure, all the different emotions. I really think the people here are remarkable for having the guts to get out of their comfort zones and pursue whatever it is they want, wherever that may take them.

Shame that some people work on the weekends.. On the otherhand going shopping on Monday morning with no crowds...

What's stopping us is simply the fact that as you get older, your optimism is replaced by realism, and the big shiny world so full of boundless possibilities suddenly becomes a lot, lot smaller. Then factor in personal tragedies, jadedness, added responsibilities in life and work, and all the other things a fresh and inexperienced brain has rarely encountered before (or at least not at an age to comprehend it), and whoosh... a radically altered state of mind.

My additiction to crack cocaine holds me back a bit I feel.

Life is an adventure. Life is incredible. When you think of the immensity of the universe: around 50 billion light years across, in existence for about 13.5 billion years, number of stars (suns) in the visible universe: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's 10 to the power of 23). Yet here we are, in the periphery of an arm of an obscure spiral galaxy called the Milky Way (about 20,000,000,000 solar systems), on a little ball of dirt called earth. Earth which is about 4.5 billion years old.

Just the fact that we exist is mind-boogling. Life is so interesting, so much to know, so little time. Yet many are so myopic and only concentrate on their tiny world, just like ants.

Enjoy every sunset, everyday of good health, every walk in the woods, every book you read. Make the most of life. Be curious, read, learn, observe, taste, feel. In short live and be happy you are alive, and in a safe country with enough to eat, a good standard of living, no war. Live life to the full !

building up a lifestyle built around a certain income bracket and then trying to break out of it when you're middle aged and have a mortgage and dependents (whether partner, family, etc.)

makes it damn tough

but likewise this still doesn't stop the entrepreneurs from risking it all - problem is i wouldn't want to risk my family ended up broke and on the streets (so to speak...)

Maybe also as you get a little older you become happier with what you have around you - realise that you don't _need_ to have the latest, greatest of every new thing on the market...