Living Outside The Box
Since the start of this year, I have officially been living outside the box. And I can proudly say I don’t think I can ever step into the box again.
Whether you see it or not, we’re all born into a box… a box with prescribed roles and responsibilities we all have to fulfil since birth. Samples are set by the society. Rules apply to everyone you see. Stages in life were set and passed on. We’re born into one big box with a life of its own and plenty of toys that make us feel safe and warm, and keep us busy and occupied. Everything and everyone else seem to be doing the same thing. We are not weird. We fit in. We follow the rules and we do it better than everyone else.
But to some of us, fitting in and following rules make you itch.
Everything that exists today was made up by someone else. Why do we need to live like everyone else? Why do we need to do what everyone else does?
Over and over this creeps up inside you that you can no longer stand living inside the box. But outside the box is kind of scary. What if it’s not safe? What if it’s cold and lonely? What if it’s not as interesting as you think it’d be? What is out there outside the box? Are there many people outside in the box? Is it really that interesting?
Getting over fear and giving it a go, you start to feel comfortable living outside the box.
It has become your way of life, your routine, and a huge part of who you are — your mindset, attitudes, and lifestyle.
We all crave freedom. Yet, we all seem to get stuck between the two types of freedom;
Financial freedom VS. Physical freedom
We want to have both at the same time, but it seems like we can only have one or the other.
We hate the rules we have to play by — whether it be the working hours, the number of days one can take off, the tasks and responsibilities that come with the role that helps you pay the bills.
To some people, getting a monthly income translates into freedom. It gives you a piece of mind, knowing that you’ll be fine at the end of each month.
But what about the physical freedom? Are we all supposed to be born to play by the rules set by others?
If you think about it, we are not so different from animals.
Think about the animal shows — dolphin and tiger shows — they are not doing the shows because they love doing it. They do it because they are starved and that’s the only way they are going to get fed. If you don’t love your work, going to work for you is just like dolphins and tigers doing these animal shows because they need food and shelter, and their owners are providing them these— in other words: security and stability.
But can these animals be let run wild and free?
Will they survive if we let dolphins go into the sea and tigers go into the wild forest? No one is going to feed them, provide them shelters, and make sure they are safe.
YES
(you think to yourself)
So if these animals are going to be fine without owners who provide them food, shelters, and safety, then why aren’t you?
Why do you think these animals are going to be fine on their own? Won’t they be lonely? Won’t they get bitten by other bigger animals? Won’t they starve themselves?
When you step outside the box and start looking around expanding your circle, reaching out to the other people who live outside the box, you’ll realize that there are so many other people out there who live outside the box.
You’ll start to learn their tricks — how they survive, how they build themselves up, what roads they have been on, and how they manage to build an ecosystem around them that feeds itself and is sustainable.
Over the past year I have met many successful people who live outside the box — who have gone off the beaten track, lived in different cities, worked on various interesting things. There’re a couple of things I notice about them.
- First, they seem to have found ways to inner happiness and seem content and emotionally self-reliant.
- Second, they don’t let rules define them. They create their own rules.
- Third, they seem self-sufficient, good-hearted, and are not greedy or power-hungry.
This’s inspired me to embrace living outside the box even more because to me, successful and happy living is about having the freedom to create and live life on your own terms.
If you aren’t currently happy with what you do, it’s probably time to find a new owner who gives you some other tasks to do. But have you ever thought that maybe you could just build a new circus?
You don’t really need a new owner to provide you things, you just need to have the guts to build your own show.
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Mo is the founder of The Happiness Planner, a planner designed to help you welcome more happiness, positivity, and joy into your life by applying the practices of positive thinking, mindfulness, and self-development.
You can read more of her recent writings on BrandMentalist.com.
