I Have a Dream!

I have a dream …

Partly stolen from a brave man. (AKA Martin Luther King).

He had a dream, and so do I.

I really don’t believe that way we live our lives today is the best way for our happiness and well-being. We have never been more stressed than we are today.* So why do we keep on going the same path that has led us to this stress?

I have a dream of ..

.. Where Weekends are Weekdays

We have never been more stressed than we are now. I have never been sick because of it. But I have tried having to many deadlines at the same time, where I had to work 16 hours a day to reach them.

Why don’t we just swap the weekdays with weekends?

Lets have five days a week where we only do things we actually want, and two days where we work.

.. Where We Work to Thrive, Not Survive

Imagine if money wasn’t an issue? What would we then do? I think there is an insanely amount of people who pick an education because of status and how much money they can earn.

What if started to do stuff that we really had a burning desire for.

And not to just to make ends meet? Or impress others?

Imagine if we could be a “Put-in-an-activity-you-love” Instructor, but we didn’t have to worry about the food on the table. Or what about other people would think of us?

.. Where We Don’t Have Mortgages

When did it ever become normal to buy something that we need 30 years to pay off? I have never understood, and I never think I will understand it. Why we would pay that amount of money to have a place to live.

I have been working in the building industry for more than 10 years now. And I have seen both spectrums of how people can live. It is not more difficult to build a 100 m2 house that cost below 100.000 $, than it is to build a +200 m2 house that will cost you more than 1.000.000 $.

Imagine if we only spend 5 years or less to pay off a mortgage. Or not even having one? From day 1 we didn’t have any debt in the house.

So why are we building so big and unaffordable houses?

I can’t tell.

.. Where Meat Is a Luxury

Many of us in a western culture is raised with having meat in every single meal. And we can’t blame our parents for teaching us eating meat. Back in the days we was not informed on how meat-eating can affect the clima. We didn’t knew it was a problem. But we do know that now. I love the taste of meat. But there is no reason to incorporate it in every meal. Let’s start to see it as a luxury we do when we have to celebrate something big. And not something we eat everyday to survive.

There is a cheaper, easier, healthier and more environmental way to eat.

.. Where our Transportation is Awesome

I can often be stoked about how our computers and mobiles seems to have an exponential form of growth. But if we take a look at the cars, trains and bikes, there seems to be almost none growth.

The first car invented back in the 1900 had four wheels, and it run on gasoline. That is over 100 years ago, and it is not until recently that we started to drive in electrical cars.

The same goes with the bike. It still has to wheels, and a metal chain. I think the bike is one of the greatest invention. But it was not until recently that it became legal in Denmark to ride on a Speed Pedelec (a 45 km/hour e-bike). 

Riding e-bikes that goes 45 km/hour is a game changer. My dad who has 30 km for work, can now go by bike instead of the car. Save a boatload of money, being more environmental, and maybe live longer because of a better health. 

.. Where We Quit Social Status and Start Being Compassionate

I’m very open about how many money I have. 

I don’t want my money to earn respect, trust or anything else. My money has one function only, and that is buying my own time back. 

Imagine if everybody quitted the fear of “Not-being-good-enough”, and could stop spend time on impressing people we don’t know. And start to be compassionate about our friends, family and people who are in tough situation because of bad luck. 

.. Where We Have a Green Capitalistic System

Many people think of money as a greedy and en evil thing. And connects capitalism with fossil fuels, cutting down trees and the end of the world. I don’t want to disagree with that feeling. But what if we could use the power of capitalism to make a better world? I’m not talking about only surviving on this earth, what if we could leave the world as a better place for our kids and grand kids?

I believe that we can make a capitalistic system where everyone can benefit from it in their pensions, and still make the world a better place. With sustainable companies that makes this world a better place to live. 

.. Where We Have Time for our Kids

No needing to rush in the mornings because we are in hurry to our work. 

No need to work long hours on work, because you need to pay for the nanny who take care of picking up our kids.

Or paying the house cleaner, too clean up after the kids.

Or paying the restaurant for takeaway food for the family because we don’t feel like cooking after a long work day.

Just having time for the spouse you love, and for the kids you have putted into this world. No more, no less.

.. Where We Don’t Spend Money in Order to be Happy

If we live in modern western country. Most of us will have decent place to live. And a supermarket filled with healthy foods within biking distance. Which is our needs.

Anything else besides that is wants. Whenever we think that this next purchase (besides paying rent, or buying groceries) is going to make us happy. That is the exact same time that we buy a freaking lie.

The lie is that we don’t need to buy anything in order to become happy.

If we feel a little bit sad. And we think a purchase is going to put an end to that sadness. We are going to be sad our whole life.

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned or worn. It is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude. – Denis Waitley

I have no freaking idea who Denis Waitley is. But that is a hell of a quote.

*https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf