this Solvency

So I've recently achieved a major milestone in my life: financial independence. This is, in my understanding, being able to pay for all my past credit, my immediate needs, and my future wants. Most people I believe will probably say, "There's nothing special in that. You just have to live within your means." But in my case, my prime directive in life is to maximize experience; and keeping to that personal mandate means spending a lot of cash all the time.

So this marriage of my philosophy and financial security is such an amazing feat for me. An extraordinary feat--by reason of it being completely impractical--that requires an extraordinary act: which is working in another country--which I did.

And now that I've achieved this previously impossible dream, I've been left to think, "What else is there to life?"

I mean, the challenge has been met, the day won, the prize seized. What is there left to chase after?

My dear friend and officemate, Flo, quaintly explains it in this manner: goals are just steps. Once you reach a goal, it is the human tendency, no, prerogative, to move to the next. Dreams are something you imagine, do, and eventually replace.

So now that I'm here, I am satisfied. And since satisfaction is a completely different concept from happiness, I've still got a ways to go.

So I've been enriching my life, by joining clubs and groups and communities. I've participated in volunteer work, concerts, religious fellowship, drunk revery, bbqs, random little things that happen in the course of life. I've said yes to every opportunity, never said "No" to any invitation, pursued any and all possible avenues for experience, exposure and excitement with an open mind.

And after all that, I can safely say I know what I want in life. Or, to better define it, I have found the proof that asserts what I've yearned for all along.

And in a way, I think that, compared to being able to pay for your own rent, knowing what you want in life is the most empowering thing you can ever discover about yourself. I hope you find it, too. Because life is a long road, and though the trip may be fun, nothing else fills you with confidence and self-assurance than knowing that unwavering truth of where you're going. The joy may be in the journey, but if you're lucky, knowing the destination will fill you with ease and simplify everything.

I know where I'm going: a house on the edge of the sea, watching the beautiful vista as I feebly, but steadily, chase the words that could capture the magic of a sunset shimmering into dusk on the infinite horizon. 3 years in, I feel like it won't be too long 'til I get there.