At what point during ones life journey do you realise that this is everything that you are. We as humans tend to plod through life postponing our aspirations because we believe that there will always be more time. But why?
As of today, I have been alive for 10,535 days. Sounds like a long time right? And because most of you reading this have also been around for thousands of days, we all act like tomorrow will always come; because it always has.
Some would say that the 21st century man’s mission on earth is to carry on with what our ancestors did before us; to discover and to explore. To use natural instincts that have matured through evolution so that we can ultimately offer something to the world that it didn’t have before. To leave it in a better place than it was before we got here.
Natural Human Instincts
I wrote an article a few weeks back about entrepreneurial spirit, discussing where I believe it comes from. One passage from that article was based on a conversation I had with a friend where I stated:
We all begin life the same and before we begin to mould into our environments, we are gifted with the ability to fend for ourselves, survive and provide. That animal instinct lives in us all. We are fighting beasts, competitive by nature and we are built to chase.
Survival instincts, that’s a term that in todays digital world we can only really associate with someone like Bear Grylls, stomping around the South American swamp with his machete, cutting down a rare form of tree bark to uncover a nutrient dense protein living inside a maggot. Tasty.
But where are the rest of us using our evolutionary survival instincts? I don’t think writing this blog post counts, nor does the tweet out to promote it once I have finished, so where did I go wrong? Distraction is probably a good place to start.
Distraction and Dependancy
Mixed messages from multiple mediums plague us on a daily basis, pushing us one way and pulling us the other. Buy me, play me, click me, download me, read me, retweet me, share me, comment on me. Everything that makes us alive is lost because we choose to distract ourselves with irrelevance.
I cannot be judgemental, as I am like many, reaching for my Smartphone to occupy my boredom. This largely occurs while I commute from A to B, too scared to interact with strangers, but deep down, I crave for that interaction. I crave it so much that it is awkwardly painful to spend one second too long in the company of a group of strangers. 
The truth is, we as a generation are dependent on technology, the media and the government. We need them to confine us within a world of rules and barriers that enrage us beyond measure, but also keep us safe from the ultimate fear. The fear of our real potential.
Evolution and Life Potential
As my pursuit of fulfilment continues, I find myself being more patient, more open to new ideals and clearer in my thoughts. The more time I spend on this journey, the more alive I feel. With that I feel closer to the earth, to the ideals of those who stood before me, to the spirits and to myself. I know that I have not yet reached my full potential, or even come close. I am too scared of what that even looks like. I am also confined to the barriers and I know that these barriers will act as stumbling blocks in my journey and that at times these blocks will force me to ‘get back in line’ with the sheep.
But I will continue on this journey, because entering the unknown and achieving the impossible is my greatest fear. Because I know that this isn’t everything that I am capable of. As I reach 10,536 days, 10,537 days and so on; I will have learned and achieved more, fought and hustled harder and be that much closer to being free from all barriers where I know I will shine.