Ep14: Taking the Road Less Travelled By w/Ege Kardelen

This is a reflection on Playticity Podcast Episode 14: Taking the Road Less Travelled By w/Ege Kardelen. Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts. It is also available on www.playticity.com/podcast

This episode was like a slap in the face and an inspiring moment all at the same time.

Ege had a choice, like many of us do, to take the comfortable path. Graduating with a business degree, working a corporate job, a great girlfriend, strong network, and the potential to sail off into the sunset.

But, deep down he wanted something different. There was an inner voice that wanted more than what was “supposed” to be enough. And while there were monstrous amounts of uncertainty and doubt at every corner, voices telling him to stop being silly, to just accept his lot, to be content, the inner voice was too strong. He threw away all he knew, and took a risk.

If you want to hear the story in full, listen to the podcast. But I think there is something about Ege’s story that speaks to all of our hearts in some deep, indescribable way. All of the actions he had taken up until that point had zero alignment with risk or traveling across the world.

So what was it that made him finally take the stand for the voice within?

Perhaps it was an inner rebel that was tired of how things were.

Maybe it was a deep wonder and curiosity for the unexplored possibilities all around him.

Or maybe it was out of a humble desire to prove something to himself.

Whatever it was, he finally managed the strength to shed the heavy load on his back, and to carve his own path. And while the path wasn’t linear by any means — Ege describes being disappointed in himself that he went right back to a corporate job a little while after moving to New Zealand — He didn’t let this stop him.

This demonstrates how the fight to carve your own path and find freedom is never over, and that the pull of all of the “supposed tos” in life will always be there.

But is this not what makes life exciting? What makes it meaningful?

What would be the point in going to the gym if you could already lift all the weights, do all the sets, and run all the miles?

Why work to be better at your craft of writing, speaking, starting a business, or creating, if you already knew everything?

If there was nothing external telling you how you should do things, then there would be no point to having an inner voice.

The resistance we face, and the obstacles in our path, our imperfection and fallibility in the face of the vast world around us, this is what makes things worthwhile. To ask for a life without tough choices, or with no resistance to what we want, is to ask for an empty existence.

Ege’s experience was difficult, a road with many ups and downs, moments of despair and self-overcoming, but this is what made it special, and what made it meaningful to him.

As Bruce Lee once said —

“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

I loved hearing Ege’s story, and I hope to have more of these kind of conversations with anyone interested in sharing theirs.

Because no matter how flashy or boring our life seems to be based on societal standards, we all have stories to tell, and we all have struggles, because we are all human.

Thanks for reading and I’ll catch all of you players on Monday for Playticity Newsletter 11.