Advice/Brainstorming- what would you do with almost complete freedom?

There are many (imho) thoughtful Jedi here, so I thought I would come here to request advice. Not to necessarily take up your advice, but more to get ideas, and get a sense of the feasiblility/rationality of my own ideas. To brainstorm, if you will :laugh:

My issue is this. Basically, this upcoming year I have the opportunity to do (basically) whatever I want. I'm debt free, I have about 3k in the bank, I have nothing (that I can think of) holding me back from travelling.

I want to take advantage of this opportunity, but I don't want to leave May 2013 broke or in an "unsavory" situation (in other words, a situation where I cannot independently survive or get out of.)

So: if you were in my situation, what would you do?

Would you invest the money? Move someplace far away? What kind of job would you try to acquire? Take a vacation? Gain a specific new skill?

Any idea you have, I want to hear, no matter how vague or specific (though it needs to be something that I can see the reason for doing- "go hunt zebras from a helicopter" is something one can do, but why would one do it? If you can give a reason for your idea, that would be extra awesome!)

I look forward to your thoughts and ideas!

Well, find what you REALLY love to do! And get certified in that thing. Then travel to your favorite place where that is done and enjoy!

I would also suggest keeping at least 1K saved up and untouched. As to the rest, the more you give the more you recieve imo. Try to give whatever little you have and share with the less fortunate and I think you will find that you will never struggle in this life for money, nice things, and happiness.

Been living by that philosophy my whole life, and now at 22 I have the world practically, but I share it with EVERYONE :lol:. The Force takes care of it's children when they take care of each other.

I would probably try to combine travelling with doing stints of voluntary work, if you wanted to go travelling to places that lend themselves to that kind of thing anyway. That way you will often get accommodation and other such things provided, plus you get to help people! What could be better?!

I might also take the opportunity to say to myself "where is the one place/thing in the world that I really want to see but otherwise might never manage to visit?", and make a special trip to see it, money permitting. I'm not sure what mine would be, maybe Machu Picchu? I've never actually thought about it that much!

Learning a new skill sounds like a good idea too! There are loads of skills I would love to learn but don't seem to have the time for. Perhaps you could combine that with travelling too? For instance, I have a friend who wanted to study Mandarin at university and wanted to learn Kung Fu. So she spent a year travelling around China staying at different martial arts academies taking courses which are specially designed for people with that purpose.

something that has recently been wandering through my mind has been....simply going walkabout(to use the aussie term)...just walk in any direction i feel myself pulled, helping people along the way...lately i've had many days where i see myself simply walking...sometimes across the country, making stops along the way in various towns and getting to know the people...odd huh...even odder i see myself doing this in my robes...oh well

Hypatia wrote: So: if you were in my situation, what would you do?
Would you invest the money? Move someplace far away? What kind of job would you try to acquire? Take a vacation? Gain a specific new skill?

it has been so long since i was in your situation, i dont even remember what i did. i guess first, i would do what you are doing and brainstorm both on paper and crowdsourcing here. then i would gauge the feasability of that course of action (cost included of course). your last question i found interesting tho. also in light of some of the prior comments. some would like you to give generously. i disagree. invest in you. secure your future, as well as the future of your offspring by doing this, be it furthering your education or opening a small business or so on and so forth. the point is invest. and the example i am thinking of is guys like bill gates and warren buffett. they concentrated 100% on their careers and companies for decades, made it to the top, and in the case of buffett at least, now have literally BILLIONS with which to contemplate philanthropic activities. that they probably would have been able to accrue if they hadnt been investing their time in money in those things as they had.

that sounds callous. and also i dont personally follow it. i DO spend a good chunk of my time and money in volunteer and philanthropic activities. i guess i am saying, all things in moderation. even that. give, but not so much that you are messing yourself up.

cool?

You could come visit your awesome Jedi friends over in the UK for a gathering...

Akkarin wrote: You could come visit your awesome Jedi friends over in the UK for a gathering...

:ohmy: That is a totally awesome idea! Stuff all my sensible ideas, do this instead! :laugh:

Akkarin wrote: You could come visit your awesome Jedi friends over in the UK for a gathering...

is there a gathering every year...and is it all over the place or in one country at a time? im not old enough yet but i would love to meet everyone...

Depending on what was in store for me after the year was up, I would do something like the walkabout. I would go to the Western states and get out of my car. Try and start it when I got back next year so I could go home. I am in need of a long quiet rest in a place far away. A place where I can center myself so I can face the rest of my life. Someplace like a monastery.

There are not too many opportunities for a person to regroup their thoughts, emotions, and understanding of themselves. Being my age, I am closer to the end than the beginning, I would like to focus myself and get a hold of my "being" so that all of the teachings and lessons I have learned, can be put into action.

Follow your bliss?


(yay, first in on that quote)

smartass

I would probably go teach linux to some kids in south america.

Thank you all for your replies!

@War Beauty- Very good ideas, thank you! I really like your enthusiasm, it is infectious, which is exactly what I need right now

@V-Tog-

I might also take the opportunity to say to myself "where is the one place/thing in the world that I really want to see but otherwise might never manage to visit?", and make a special trip to see it, money permitting.

I've been thinking about doing this, and it made me realize how much I try to hinder myself from doing the things I want to do. Right now is a great time to go someplace I may never have the chance to visit again. But the ultra-logical side of me is (metaphorically) hissing in my ear telling me not to take risks- I'll inevitably :huh: shoot myself in the foot. So it's something I need to work through

@RyuJin- that is interesting...do you think you would actually do it? That's kind of similar to making a pilgrimage, which is one thing I've considered doing. I think walking the Camino de Santiago would be amazing, but I'm pretty sure staying in Europe for 4-5 weeks is out of my budget xD. I could always walk the Appalachian trail and consider it a sort of Jedi pilgrimage to nowhere in particular

@Desolous- I'm glad you emphasized investing in yourself. It's something I've decided I must do the upcoming year, but how specifically, I haven't yet decided.

@Akkarin- haha, so long as I don't break the bank! I've always wanted to visit the U.K

@Phortis Nespin- YES. I understand your desire, there was a period of time when I was dead set on entering a Monastery, to the point of actually discussing ordination with the monastics and having an extended retreat at the monastery. I definitely think a monastery is good for recomposing oneself, but I find conflict to be the most effective method to learn about oneself. Which is something monasteries are not notorious for You should go on a monastic retreat though, I'm biased and will recommend visiting a Theravada Buddhist monastery- most operate solely on dana (donations), so there is no set price for staying with them- you give what you think they deserve. Plus Theravada philosophy is pretty logical in general.

@Adder- :laugh: Very true statement! I enjoy the fact you pulled from our training

@Ren- I'm pretty computer illiterate (I'm only now teaching myself html code), so I had to look up what Linux was. Very cool- I like the idea of making things free/accessible to all. How did you learn it- in school? Or did you teach yourself?

This is an idea that I haven't really seen voiced, so I guess I'll give it a shot: do nothing. You had to have some sort of stability to get to this point, and there is something to be said for keeping that stability. Now, I don't know what your job situation is, or how old you are, but I would keep working and saving and investing. This is probably the safest route, and while a lot of the other adventures would be fun, there's a Mohamed Ali quote that goes: "Pleasure is not happiness. It has no more importance than a shadow following a man."

So, while you say you're debt free and you have the next year to do whatever you want. Isn't that a good feeling? I would keep that, and work at it so it stays that way.

Now, if you hate your job or some other factor of your life, then I would go and find someplace/some job that I enjoy and do what I just described in the new situation, but if you're comfortable with your current life I don't see any reason to drastically change it. Add a new hobby, do something to make you happier, but don't leave the security that you currently have behind.

save up...then splash out. lol. im terrible with money.:woohoo:

This is definitely an interesting topic and I'm curious to see what you do. What do you want to do?

From personal experience I'm just coming back from a 6 month long free for all myself. I sold everything I owned (well pretty much donated it all really because of the short time frame) and moved to another state to prusue my dreams. It didn't turn out exactly how I expectide but I did accomplish what I set out to do and I am better for it. Even better, I had those worrisome thoughts about finances that you do but it all turned out okay. I guess the point is you never know what's going to happen. It's when you put your life on hold you get in trouble. Live it up and save or invest some of your money if that makes you feel better but atleast take a weekend to try something that you want to try.

I'd split the 3K. 1K in a high interest savings account so there's a building block to start saving for the future, 1K on a relaxing holiday for myself and my fiancée and the final 1K doing some good. Maybe putting some of it into some form of eco' project. Not too sure, there are so many good causes.

hmm, I would a bit of it on appliances/electronics, like a new laptop, go to a gathering or two, and stash the rest in a sock for hard times lol. I know, not very romantic or exciting, but it's what I'd do. (I'd also give a thousand to a guy named hellisforhorses 'cause he's so awesome! ) lol j/k

I'd go and experience the world from other perspectives through travel to different cultures and then take some time away in a quiet, calm, idyllic place to reflect on what I have learned.

Although if you feel that this would give you much knowledge or enlightenment then take some time to think about what it is in this world that make you truly happy and use the money on/with/for whatever that may be.