This is my way of giving an introduction, a bit different from the others of course, Original finally.
There are now a couple days ahead where I don't have product deliveries, but I have set up deliveries for my own business, which I have put on hold the last few weeks due to the volume of work in general. It will be good to not have to plan too much for these sessions though, as they are more "off the cuff" - kind of like a freewriting session.
When I got home from work tonight however, I went straight over to the neighbor's place to help him take a load of garden waste to the dump. He had taken his son and son's friend on a camping trip over the weekend and slipped and unfortunately fractured his ankle, so for the next four or five weeks, he is largely out of commission for the most part. Luckily he can still drive and we actually ended up taking another load of renovation rubbish from our place too, which is handy.
I don't have a tow-ball on my car and I have never driven with a trailer before, but with the needs of the house and garden, I am going to have to eventually have a bar fitted, buy a trailer and start practicing. There are most likely YouTube videos I can use to learn from, showing how to be manly with a trailer.
Of course, I am not the only one who is feeling over-worked at the moment, as one of our builders who has been helping us some afternoons said that after he does tomorrow, he can't do any more because he is just getting too tired. I completely understand, so now I am going to have to find the space to do the rest of the work he won't be able to finish - which isn't ideal, but not much ever is. So, work with what you've got.
Work is such a dirty word for some people these days. It's as if there is this expectation that high return should be provided, regardless of effort in. I would like to say that it is only the young that act like this, but more and more I am observing the behavior reach up the generational ladder, with older people believing they are entitled to something, no matter how they behave. I think that for the most part, they are in for a nasty shock.
While we were driving tonight, we were talking about housing prices and how a lot of people are living as renters in Helsinki "for the lifestyle", yet are still struggling to make ends meet. What they don't seem to realize is that as bad as they think things are now, they are going to be many times worse worse when they are of retirement age in an aging population with no assets to their name to cover their further living expenses. Many believe that the state will look after them, but I don't think it is going to be possible given the magnitude of the situation.
So many people seem to be taking the have now, worry about paying the bills later attitude to life and the more who do it, the more who will. It has become a kind of social norm to buy on credit and it is at least partly driven through the social-proofing of it. If everyone is doing it, it must be okay - right?
This is how culture tends to go though, until something comes along that forces a change in the paradigm - often something that is very painful, like economic collapse to the point of war, which seems closer and closer by the day. We seem to think that it is the top of the heap that make the decisions for war, but it isn't only them - we play a role in proceedings too and when we own nothing, we are at the mercy of those who do.
You can't own something of value if everything you get keeps getting sold for what is worthless.
It all comes down to what we value, doesn't it?
Some people value the "lifestyle" of living in Helsinki or being "close to the action", even though they struggle daily. Some value the myriad gadgets, cars and consumer goods that make them feel important, even though a few minutes after purchase, the feeling dissipates to nothing and they look for the next thing to buy. Some value the money, others the competition, some experience, some relationships, some a mix of it all.
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"Value" is subjective. But, circumstances can change the subject.
"I would never eat at that restaurant!" is not a sentence heard from the empty mouths of the starving.
What we value can change heavily through our lives, but unfortunately, the decisions we make each day are going to impact on what is possible in our future. Are we acting to have increased opportunity or is what we are doing now reducing it? Will we be able to look after ourselves, or will we be reliant on others and need handouts and charity? It is all well and good to want the lifestyle now, but everything has a future cost of some kind involved and often, fulfilling the socially-proofed norms of society will leave us stuck in the norm.
Tell me, what is the average person's financial and life experience in your local cultural norms? Are they enjoying life, happy, content with what they have, able to pick and choose opportunity, have enough to do a lot of what they enjoy - or are they struggling to make ends meet, stressed over debt, having to work at jobs they do not like in order to maintain the lifestyle they have chosen to live? How about yourself in comparison to those around you - are you living a better life than the average, or do you consider yourself in a worse position?
We are often influenced by our peer groups and those in our environment, yet as children we were asked, "if your friend jumps off a cliff, do you follow?" I think it is safe to say that in the current conditions of the world, the people who do not have ownership that brings them opportunity, those who are in debt and are having to work unwanted jobs, are likely not having a great experience in life - the social proof is there. Many people have jumped off economic cliffs - yet many more keep following on their heels.
Well, if everyone is doing it....