Losing the Rat Race? Switch lanes.

I used to run pretty hard in the rat race. at the age of 18, back in 1992 I was making sixty thousand United States Dollars a year, and that went up a little bit over the next 4 years, but I never reached $70 000. I was working 70 hours a week, most of my friends at the time were in University, making nothing, or almost nothing.

I was making more money than the people I worked with, and all my friends. I had won the Rat Race that was in my lane (Place and Time).

I used to teach English privately in Japan back in 1999 for $120 US Dollars per hour, tax free. That was my highest hourly wage ever.

Now I am not sure what you have made before or are making now, that is irrelevant. I have a brother that would not be able to live on a measly $70 000 a year, he has friends that spend that in a month, believe it or not. He is not winning his current rat race and is still driven to make more money.

The Rat Race

Happiness Is Just Around The Corner

The rat race is all relative to the people around you and your surroundings. I am currently living in third world Asia, and my measly income of approximately $1000 US a month, puts me in good standings with my neighbors, and friends here. Most of them make similar or less.

With my thousand dollar a month income, I have enough money to rent a decent sized two bedroom, two bathroom house, pay for my son’s private school, run the air conditioners 24 hours a day if I wish, surf the Internet, watch satellite television, take air conditioned taxis to see movies in the cinema at least once a week, eat out 2 times a day and every second day get a two hour traditional massage.

Back home the massages alone would be over $1500 dollars a month in Canada, and I dare say they likely wouldn’t be as good.

Life is pretty good here on a thousand dollars a month. Wouldn’t you say?

Back home making $70 000 a year I was unable to do all that. So if you look at me back home making $70 000 a year or look at me now making just under $12 000 a year. I am actually living a much better life now on the $12 000.

Which would you choose, the making more than your friends scenario where you are still forced to budget to make ends meet? Or the lesser income in a country where you get a lot more for your money?

Basically, if you are sick of the rat race, consider switching lanes. What are you really after in life anyhow?

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