Options.
The beauty of being born into North American and specifically Canadian culture is not just the fact we have a quality of life far ahead of most other countries with health care, public education, infrastructure and government safety nets. Indeed, the beautify of living here is also the fact there are so many options.
While in smaller places and especially in northern communities, we like to complain our services are lacking (and they are compared to larger centres, but in a global context, we’ve got it good), we have opportunities here citizens from other countries can only dream of, and while people around the world are worried about how to pay for the food on the table to the point where school for their young children is not even an option, because the children must work to help the family, this is not the case for most of us.
The point is, in North America, even if your family does not have money you have opportunities if you choose to take them, so we are blessed with the luxury of options.
In fact, some of us become so overwhelmed by the number of choices we are always looking for the perfect fit, and so instead of choosing, many of us languish in stasis.
Of course, not making a choice is in itself choosing something - to stay exactly where you are.
As a seasonal worker for 10 years, I was surrounded by young people with this dilemma, and I was one of the people struggling with this. Many of those I worked with were consumed with trying to figure out “what to do with my life.”
Of course, in the mean time, as a seasonal worker, there are winters to be spent doing things like surfing, backpacking through South America and traveling through southeast Asia, which takes a lot of time and focus away from making those long-term choices.
So, in the end, the options remain on the table, and the choices seemingly endless. Life style versus life goals are sometimes the choice and sometimes it’s money versus quality of life, which of course is a balancing act which depends completely on your values and expectations.
I for one, have been comfortable making lifestyle my first choice for a long time, with some goals set aside and money a smaller part of the equation, but I am not certain this can last forever and I’m not sure it is wise. Should lifestyle be the most important thing? Can lifestyle be maintained if you switch gears towards other goals?
The point is, the luxury of options is something I do not take for granted, however, I am also perhaps over thinking them all, like so many of today’s younger generations. Mayby it is leap or be left behind…