4 Tips on Dropping Out of the Rat Race
How To Become Self-sufficient in a Materialistic World
In a world obsessed with materialism, entertainment, and vanity it is no wonder that many people have become unhappy with their lives. Working to pay a mortgage, car loan, and credit cards has lost its appeal for some. And when it seems the bank owns everything, and has trapped us in an endless cycle of working to pay the bills people seeking greater happiness must ask oneself, is it all really worth it?
Society suggests that buying more and more things will make us happy. Which is the basis behind why people desire whatever new high tech gadget, latest fashion trend, the latest dice em’, chop em’ fixation, etc.
With most of these views on what we need and how we should live coming from what we see on television. "Keeping up with the Joneses" has now actually become keeping up with "The Real Housewives of Orange County."
Since depression and unhappiness is a direct result of the materialistic culture we have come to enjoy, it maybe time for a change in order to find something else to make us happy and to bring us back to a more down to earth lifestyle. Giving up the trappings of a materialistic culture may free us and let us truly discover who we are and our purpose in life.
Dropping out of the rat race may be a slow journey for some. But here are some tips to get you on your way.
Give up materialism
Giving up materialism does not suggest giving up everything you own to become homeless. It merely suggested that one has a good look at what assets one owns and determines what is really needed in their life.
Moving beyond materialism means avoiding actions that place oneself in debt, like buying things that are unnecessary. It means that essential requirements are placed before fashion and ego. It means giving up what you don’t need and being able to tell the difference between what you need and what you want.
Cut down your expenses
Take a good look at your life. Are you perpetuating the rat race cycle? You may be propagating a lifestyle that you are unhappy with by "doing what you need to do," (I need to pay these bills syndrome). Whither we realize it or not the more the bank owns in our life the more we are perpetuating the cycle of working to pay bills.
By reevaluating your needs and values you can determine what is needed and what is not needed in your life. Make a list of what you pay every month. What can you live without? Perhaps it is a simple as giving up your cell phone or those extra cable channels. Or maybe it is has major has cutting up a credit card and moving into a smaller house.
Educate yourself
Get back to the basics and educate yourself.
- Learn how to cook. The skill has been deteriorating at an alarming rate, instant microwave dinners and fast food have become the norm. Learn how to preserve food, and make things like bread or pasta from scratch.
- Learn how to make your own solar panel or battery. Believe it or not it can be done!
- Learn construction or electrical.
- Learn first aid and herbal remedies.
Become Self-sufficient
To become self-sufficient means not relying on outside sources in order to sustain your life. Because society has taken away our ability (the majority) to become self-sufficient, one may have to relocate to be able to succeed at becoming self-sufficient.
Some examples include:
- Grow your own garden.
- Upgrade to solar or wind power.
- Fish or hunt for your dinner.
Being trapped in the Rat Race of working to pay bills is as unfulfilling as it sounds wither you are working to pay off a mortgage or 200 pairs of shoes you have charged up on your credit card, there is a happiness that can be instituted in the freedom of independence. The tips above offer one the opportunity to take the first steps to self-determination and could make a difference in the substance of life.
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