My husband and I officially withdrew from the rat race on 9/8/21! We're 33 and have two young kids and are so excited for our family's new adventures!
I'll be volunteering at my kids' elementary school and at a local exotic animal sanctuary, and helping some family members with their fitness goals pro bono (I was a Personal Trainer.) My husband will be trying his hand at carpentry and is helping some of our aunts and uncles with their investing and retirement planning; he also has some amazing creative ideas to merge data science and art!
I'm far from a poet, but I felt inspired by our victory, so here's a little poem to celebrate our journey:
My mind is racing
since I was 4
"Don't I know enough?!"
"Know more!"
Cram. Test. Win. Forget. Repeat.
I just sit.
They fill me up.
"But I'm not empty!"
"Shut up!"
"I'm in here. I'm me!"
"Be quiet and take this trigonometry."
I take it.
I cram. I test. I win. I forget. I repeat. I'm buried.
My 12-year sentence, served.
But wait, here's 4 more.
I cram more. I test more. I win more. I forget more. I repeat again and again.
I'm lost.
"You're winning!"
"At what?!"
"Now get a job! Get paid!"
"Okay..."
Lifeless shells of facts and figures
colliding in drab gray spaces,
running their own little races.
We work. We earn. We spend. We self-medicate. We repeat.
We're ... successful?
"I want out!" I scream.
I'm still buried in here.
Pieces of me scattered amongst the force-fed facts
and the piles of debt
and the project reports
and the massive regrets.
Start digging!
I sift. I shred. I sort. I save
the parts of me that long gave way
to the filling up and wringing out.
To whatever this race was all about.
At last, an image waivers in my mind.
"Is that ... me?"
I'm fragile, but I'm here. I'm me!
I can finally be what I want to be!
But now I need to leave the rest behind.
"But you're winning!" you say.
"At what?" I reply
"Your games are destructive,
you don't own my mind."
Keep your race
it's beaches for me.
An adventurous spirit
wild, far-off places
me, the world, and my family.
We're free!
We explore. We play. We rest. We love. We live!
... Thank you, MMM for sharing your journey and wisdom, and inspiring so many of us to leave the race behind and find our own paths!