“We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in this present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh
I’ve been that guy.
At 19, I graduated culinary school and was ready to change the world. I worked many long nights and early mornings, I held down 2 jobs at a time, and by 23 I landed my first job as a Sous Chef for a local resort making more than I knew what to do with at that age.
I had a great career and a beautiful girlfriend, but what I didn’t have was happiness.
One day it all clicked. I walked into my bosses office and turned in my 3 week notice, explaining my last day would be on my birthday. Slightly puzzled, he asked why I wouldn’t work 2 weeks and just enjoy the week of my birthday.
I told him my respect for him, my hatred for the place, and that my leaving was the best gift I could give myself.
He laughed his ass off and told me if I ever needed a recommendation, I had it. That extra weeks pay came in handy in the long run too.
In my first week off, I went to Puerto Rico with my friends Jodrick and Jessica, owners of Chefs on the Run. This man is a culinary juggernaut, check him out at #theruggedchef.
They showed me Aguadilla, Rincon, and Mayaguez, where I met more family members than I could keep up with, was fed like a king, and got obnoxiously drunk one night and pissed off a tripleta cart owner almost causing a brawl.
I don’t remember it, but the story that remains is still hard to live down today.
From there, I returned home for a day, then headed to Costa Rica for my first trip by myself.
I planed the trip with a cook who worked with me, but he bailed somewhere along the lines. Many people would have backed out and cut their losses, but I didn’t.
Some of the most beautiful moments in your life can happen when you don’t know what’s around the corner or where you next meal will come from.
I went insanely over budget and had to talk the airline into flying me home a little over half way into a 3 week trip.
What did I take from this?
Ferris Bueller was right.
“Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.”-Ferris Bueller
This life was meant to be experienced to its fullest. When you are young, you have time and energy, but you lack money. When you are middle aged, you have money and energy, but lack time. When you get old, you have time and money, but lack the energy to enjoy things to the fullest.
If you are young enough where you can throw caution to the wind and/or potentially fuck up your career a bit, do it now.
If you are middle aged, don’t count on retirement to experience the things you want to see in life. Instead, budget frequent experiences throughout your life.
You know, work to live, not live to work.
Hell, maybe we can build a life doing what we love.
If you are retired, you have contributed your piece to society. If your kids truly love you they will want you to live life to the fullest, not leave a large inheritance.
Don’t guilt yourself out of the life you deserve.
If I’ve learned anything in my time behind the bar, it’s that nothing’s guaranteed and you might not make it as long as you plan.
Enjoy life now, no regrets.
