Escaping the Fear (Ch. 3)

In life, there are many times where we have to make a choice. To move forward with change or sit comfortably (or oftentimes, uncomfortably) in the lifestyles we've chosen. Many people are opposed to change and would rather stay with the status-quo. Regardless of how brave somebody is, most would choose unhappiness over uncertainty. Fear of the unknown is a powerful deterrent and it's something Ferris wants us to think long and hard about.

Most of us won't call it fear. I certainly don't most of the time. If you guys are anything like me, I try to rationalize it as optimism, hoping that things will get better on their own or some sort of event will improve our quality of living. My life right now isn't bad in the slightest, but I do at times take issue with how stagnant everything feels. I wake up, go to class, and go to work and I see this with many other people as well. I spend time with friends and have fun when I can, but there are times where I feel like I'm not living to my full potential. I want to explore the world, learn new skills and hobbies, and live life to the fullest while in the prime of my life.

Our society is built to chain us down with things like school, full-time jobs, and debt. (I'm not talking down education. It's very important, but especially in the U.S., it's preparation for full-time work, not always our ambitions.) We work best for that system if we adhere to it and work as little cogs in its clockwork mechanism, mindlessly toiling for a golden age that will probably never come for most of us. Retirement as society defines it now is a fallacy and nothing more than a pipe dream to help us move forward with our lives. The retirement we dream of now is very likely never going to exist and I see this everywhere.

Fear disguised as optimism is what keeps us in this mindset and keeps us working. As Ferris puts it, "Pure hell forces action, but anything less can be endured with enough rationalization." In most cases, damage control over a life change is not as bad as it appears to be. Oftentimes, it just takes some simple steps to salvage what is left if something goes wrong. He describes it on a 1 to 10 scale with 1 being absolutely nothing to 10 being permanently life-changing. With the right planning, a worst-case scenario really would only be about a 3 or 4 and that's a temporary negative effect on your life. But if we look at a best-case scenario, it can easily have a permanent 9 or 10 positive life-changing effect. You're risking a low probability negative effect for a probable positive one. There's very low risk for high positive gain when you look at it like this.

So in summary, don't hold yourself back if you feel that you want to change your life for the better. It's easy to rationalize not taking action, but if you feel like society is weighing you down with baggage and keeping you from working towards happiness, cut that baggage away. It won't hurt as bad as it seems like it will and you feel much lighter and happier after the fact when you're following your dreams.