As above really...Its shite and our common antidote is off road cycling or mtbing if you prefer. There must be more to life than chasing the last quid to purchase more shite we dont actually need.....please comment (op may have had a beer or three)
life is good............embrace it.
What day to day rat race?
I have a great life.
No day to day rat race here either.
you need a new job stumpy..................
earn enough to live mate.............learn to live on less, and work less.
simples.
You can be winner in the rat race.... or a loser!
No rat race here either - ruddy skint tho
Never trust a hippy.
earn enough to live mate.............learn to live on less, and work less.
This is my philosophy. And I like my job and feel as though I am doing something worthwhile. Don't earn much but I can still afford to do stuff.
[i]earn enough to live mate.............learn to live on less, and work less.[/i]
Mine too, and as soon as I adopted it I found I had plenty of money and plenty of time.
So in answer to your question it appears that we do it because actually we all love our lives.
Seems you need a career change or a rethink Stumps.
I can't help but think my life is a tad different to your life. Find a dream then chase it 😀
people do it because they choose to
because they think they have to
but they don't
there are alternative ways to live
I get you stumps. Don't get me wrong, life is going pretty well for me at the moment...but that said there does seem to be something going on where we are 'judged' by what we HAVE rather than who we ARE or even what we DO.
druidh - Member
What day to day rat race?
I have a great life.
smugness isn't difficult. Would you have said this before you retired?
Yep.
I had a good job, which I enjoyed. It paid well. I have a lovely wife and daughter. I got lots of time for doing stuff I wanted as well as time with my family.
I also took decisions in my career which meant turning down extra money, opting for security instead of temporary wealth. I also opted not to chase the dream of a bigger house and the flashiest car I could afford.
Choices, innit?
Edit: And I'm officially not retired as I have a job.
Power to ya.
I don't do rat racing, I've got a somewhat interesting, but undemanding (for me) job which suits me fairly well when the company's not exploding in some amusing way, I clock in at 9 and I leave at 5 and though I stress at work sometimes I put that in my drawer when I leave. I could- maybe should- be making a lot more money and working up the career ladder, just choosing not to. Life isn't hard...
work to live, not live to work....
i agree, our priorities are all skewiff. too many people are chasing material possessions (i know the irony of this as we ride around on our expensive bikes)
i'm skint, but it's through choice. i choose not to have a stessful job that involves lots of working hours and responsibility. consequently i currently have no job, but am happy.
If you're all so happy with your lives, why do you all bitch and whine and moan on here so much then?
coz i got nowt else to do.... (see above).
don't watch the news or read any newspapers, they all put their spin on it, trying to make a story out of nothing, ignore it and you'll have a happier life.
I'm not sure that most people do judge others by what they have. While this may have been true in an earlier status driven era, this is much less so now when demonstrable savvy counts for more. The problem lies in trying to sustain a life in a place that does not sustain you. Is it viable for the OP to consider moving?
I'm afraid that I completely agree with stumpy. work's bloomin awful and mega stressful. I've already had to some serious re balancing with the life work routine to try and dodge depression/work related stress but that's still lurking, some days are getting better through which is nice. A mortgage and young family mean that there is no utopian mince off and live life like a hippy on a low paid/less sh*te job. The only things that have kept me going are riding bikes as much as work and family commitments allow and the fact that I'm lookin for a new job,which in my field of work/level is not a quick turnround item, but it keeps me sane(ish) thinking that I won't have to put up with this sh1t for much longer.
The thing that really gets me is that you see our children being turned into little consumers by society as fast as possible to feed the machine and keep it turning.
*puts soapbox away and gets ready for a day of shite* 😥
Cheers Tony,Taz and all you other good guys on here. I wasn’t really bitching, just looking for other peoples slant on things. I have loads of good things in my life and a really great set of biking buddies its just well you know sometimes you think there must be a better way for us all to live out the limited time we have on this little planet…….
Working your butt off in a stressed environment, hardly seeing your kids and chasing that last pound so you can buy that holiday in Florida or that 50" TV - WHY?! It's all about keeping up with the Joneses.
If work is hateful, do something else. See more of your family, do more outdoors stuff - the rat race seems to be the norm for 90% of the population and I can't see why.
When you look back will you remember an epic coast to coast MTB ride, a great surf or a fantastic time with your family (which can be had in the UK) or will you remember slaving to earn that extra bit of cash to pay for some pointless upgrade to your bike/home/whatever?
It's handy not being skint but a life in pursuit of money is pointless, selfish and incredibly dull. Yet for some reason most of the population of Britain seems to pursue it.
'When you look back '
I just see loads more rats?
tazzymtb - MemberA mortgage and young family mean that there is no utopian mince off and live life like a hippy on a low paid/less sh*te job
Of course the option is still there. People do manage to bring children up on low incomes. But you have to accept the compromises it entails.
It's handy not being skint but a life in pursuit of money is pointless, selfish and incredibly dull. Yet for some reason most of the population of Britain seems to pursue it.
I thought I was the only one that thought this.
My lifestyle choice was forced on me by redundancy, and with the time to reflect without work worries cramming my every waking moment it was a very good thing.
I'm glad I had an opportunity to step off the merry-go-round and look at how shabby it is from the outside.
work/life ballance is incredibly important to to, and something thats very easy to forget when you work in care.
been offered the chance to up my pay by 15k a year and my job role wouldn't change much at all... but what it would mean is that i'd be on call 24/7 and that it would be me thats held accountable for the work of others and the stupid decisions made my head office.. at the moment when i leave work i ignore my mobile and its the MD that gets it in the neck when something gos wrong.
initially i turned down the payrise because of my commitments but now they're gone i'm very happy i made that choice. as long as i can pay the bills i'm happy, its nice to have spare cash to buy things, its nice to be able to save, but i was just as happy/happier in a way when i took a break from nursing to deliver shopping for tescos for near minimum wage.
riding a bike in the woods away from traffic noise, hearing only the sound of nature and your wheels rolling though it is blissful, concentrating on your line through singletrack you have to focus on... turning your mind off from everything bad in the world, its beautiful and i often wonder why people come on stw to moan about the world when they could be out on a bike forgetting about it 🙂
We made what we thought was going to be a lifestyle decision a couple of years or so back- my wife went back to work, looking for short term contracts with the idea that she'd work hard for 6-8 months a year, and we'd have a decent life the rest of the time.
Unfortunately she took on some work that now has an end date in early 2012, and she's already been on it for 12 months- no real holiday in that time, and long hours with lots of stress.
We've got the money we wanted, but not the means to use it how we want to- travel was our only real luxury, and we wanted to be able to spend the time with our kids before we got too old, and they grew up.
We're now finding that there's a real temptation to waste the money on material things we don't need or want as some sort of compensation 😕
I joke about, but I can echo a lot of the sentiments on here.
Still reasonably young, but have pushed myself hard to get where I am in my career.
In search of the flasher car, bigger pay check etc, I took a job with a well known Japanses manufacturer and endured 7 months of hell there...
16 hour days.
Never allowed to turn work mobile off.
Answering calls any time of the day including when taking girlfriend out for her birthday.
No time for the gym or cycling.
No time for STW.
No time for anything except work.
I jacked it in, took a bit of a pay-cut, handed back my flash car and chose happiness, flexi-time, full nights sleep, I chose my physical and mental well being.
F~ck ever doing that again. The money isn't worth sh1t if you dread going to work everyday!
handed back my flash car and chose happiness, flexi-time, full nights sleep, I chose my physical and mental well being.
F~ck ever doing that again. The money isn't worth sh1t if you dread going to work everyday!
<samual l jackson voice> My man! </samual l jackson voice>
.
TSY - I love the priorities there - "No time for STW" 😆
I know a few ex city traders, some worked for Goldman Sachs and one still works for UBS. Clearly their employers earn a fortune BUT they don't half own their entire lives.
They demand to know exactly where you are when on holiday in case they need to contact you (top traders will have a private jet flown out to them in an emergency!!), any time off is frowned upon, people go in on their days off because they are worried they might lose out on a deal, etc, etc. No time to exercise, lots of boozing with work and that's about it.
Is ending up with a small (or large) fortune worth throwing away what I consider the "prime" years of your life (aged 30-45ish)? Not in my opinion.
Right, time to do some work...
Taxes = pay for services & the vulnerable (do we want to be like the US?).
Work = pays for high standard of living, mtbs etc.
earn enough to live mate.............learn to live on less, and work less.
simples.
Anyone wanting more is deluded by grandeur shirley..?
The other point of view.
I've tried to do the downshifting route, doing a job that was less demanding and paid me considerably less than before. I was utterly and totally bored. So now I'm back doing a job which requires a minimum 60-hour week, and for which the Blackberry is never switched off. I manage just under 200 people across the world, and have all manner of stress.
I absolutely love it; I can manage my own time, where I work, and whether or not I delegate work or do it myself. I get very well paid in return, and rarely need to work weekends, though calls and emails come in at unexpected times.
Most people really wouldn't want to do my job, and I have a fair number of comments to that effect. Fair enough, but this is what I'm good at, and almost anything else leaves me unfulfilled. The kids see a little less of me than they did before, but they see a happy dad for 2 hours a day rather than a grumpy one for 3. Probably a trade most people would agree to, and certainly one my wife and kids seem happy with.
And it does mean that the material things (like going skiing with the kids several times a year and doing lots of things such as white water rafting in the summer) can be afforded. It's also nice to think that if I work hard for the next 10 years I can retire at any time after that.
stumpy...........most important mate, keep your chin up.
dont let it get you down at all.
nickf - the key thing is you clearly love your job!
I'd never say that the job I have now is easy, and I still thrive on the challenge of busy periods. It doesn't require the pound of flesh my old job did though, and the work culture is far more understanding of the fact that work is not, and should not, be the 'be-all and end-all'!
Are some people kidding themselves that they are not part of the rat race?
I could describe my job exactly as Northwind does, but getting up at the same time everyday, working in the same place everyday, getting home at the same time everyday, surely that's THE RAT RACE?
Go through phases where I think "WTF am I doing?" but that's always a phase and things are ok in general.
You get to a stage in life where responsibilities (family, mortgage etc.) don't allow for a major change, so you have to find other things to keep you happy and sane.
Mountain biking is a major one. (So I need to do more of it!)
superfluous wealth buys superfluous things
once you get to a certain point, there is no point
Agreed - work is, after all, just a job. I'm clear on that, and always have been.
And (whisper it) I'd do this job for a whole lot less. The market rate for the job is high, so I'd be insulted if I wasn't offered at least that, but the reality is that I don't need the salary level I get. If the pay was 50% lower I'd still not choose another line of work nor feel hard done by.
Ok to clarify the reason for my op… I arrange rides with large groups of friends from all walks of life and differing employment .Got into a discussion as to why I arrange stuff and like to pester to get folks out riding and having fun again. I stated “I thought this whole rat race thing was shite and we need more people doing stuff for community and not selfish personal gain”. None of us go to sleep hungry, scared or thirsty and could manage with a lot less. From the look on several faces I had just become a hippy. It just made me think a bit, like you do from time to time. We need a change a big change ….
The world is full of compromise, the trick is working out what you're willing to compromise. I know people that live a nomadic lifestyle, they own what they can carry and survive on a fiver a day ... they are some of the happiest folk I've ever met.
I removed myself from the rat race/ normal society a few years ago. People often say that they're jelous of the lifestyle I'm able to lead but after a few days they admit that they couldn't live it as the compromises required are too great. They need shops, pubs, cinemas, street lights, TV, phone signal, etc ... I value the ability to stand outside stark bollock naked in broard day light without getting arrested 😯
I value the ability to stand outside stark bollock naked in broard day light without getting arrested
+1 😆
For many people, they see a life of idyll just beyond their reach. One where living is self contained, there are no surprises, and they have an inner peace.
Most are too scared to look for this, some do but struggle with the realities. A small handful strike the balance.
We all justify the hell out of our life choices and we'll defend those choices until we are blue in the face.
Different strokes for different folks...
It's years since I worked for another man, and even longer since I last claimed any benefits.
Modern lifestyle - Work hard for things you're told you need but don't, or work hard for things you need but are overpriced because the market is distorted by so many people working so hard for money to give them buying power.
On the other hand, consumerism via flash bike bits is fine.
It's all about keeping up with the Jonese
That's rubbish. A very poor analysis of why people do the things that they do. No-one's given a crap about the Joneses since the 50s.
Not everyone out there is chasing needless materialism you know.
Molgrips, combined with your posts on the TV thread.... is this you?
Heh..
The real thing I am annoyed with is poor thinking.. gets itself into all areas of life unfortunately.
Molgrips - I agree. Might stop short of getting a Prius though!
I removed myself from the rat race/ normal society a few years ago. People often say that they're jelous of the lifestyle I'm able to lead but after a few days they admit that they couldn't live it as the compromises required are too great. They need shops, pubs, cinemas, street lights, TV, phone signal, etc ... I value the ability to stand outside stark bollock naked in broard day light without getting arrested
Whate are you doing now? Sounds interesting.
Molgrips - I agree. Might stop short of getting a Prius though!
Fair enough.. I don't mind what you drive as long as it's efficient 🙂
Although I do recognise that tokenism is at work in motoring too. There's no point getting a car that does 50mpg then thinking that makes it okay to drive 40k miles a year without consequence.
I'm a mountain bike instructor Finbar. Live on a farm in the mid Wales mountains with GF, 2 llamas, 2 lurchers, 2 owls and a blind sheep called Helen ... you couldn't make it up.
My 'office' is a 1000 acres of forest, we've no neighbours hence I get to do the naked thing if I fancy ... but not when I'm instructing obviously. 😉
I used to own a motorbike shop (17 years). Worked 6 days a week, 10-14 hour days, only ever had 1 holiday and only 2 days sick in that time. To cut a long story short, I'd built a monster and it dictated every aspect of life. Now I work an average of 4 days a week, outside, riding bikes with great people. I'm never going to make a million but that doesn't matter ... I know chasing that doesn't make me happy.
Stuart
That sounds awesome Stuart.
I've got the "best" of both worlds - i'm working my arse off AND not earning anything. PhDs are for suckers!
I value the ability to stand outside stark bollock naked in broard day light without getting arrested
Live on a farm in the mid Wales
thank god i am not in wales 😉
Top "work" Stuart!
Now if you could improve my pantaloons DH ability, it might be worth a trip up there...
Here's food for thought.
We can't all do fabulous jobs, can we? Some of us MUST do the rubbish, otherwise it won't get done.
So how do we decide? There are always going to be people doing jobs they hate I think.
I think Brits are too conditioned into thinking it's their "right" to have a "good" job. Go abroad and you'll often see happy street cleaners, bin men, etc. Over here it's nothing but grumble grumble, life's so unfair, etc.
The thing is, we live in a free society with a "free market" job system. We can all find another job is we want one badly. But we tend to complain instead, not appreciating the fact that many people would give their right arm for the job we have.
I think Brits are too conditioned into thinking it's their "right" to have a "good" job
Do we? Never heard anything like that.
The reasons we grumble are somewhat different I feel.
We can all find another job is we want one badly.
This I disagree with completely.
I loved my job and I have no current financial worries I just get sick of the constant greed driven world. I know we mtbers are guilty of spending on bikes, kit and stuff but my trade off is to see others learn to ride and play like kids again (male and females) i.e have fun & get fit. The way we all live could be more basic and vastly improved, don't you think ?
Why do we conform to this day to day rat race ?
Becuase it is easier than wrestling sabre toothed tigers in a 10ft snow drift wearing only a rabbit fur loincloth.
I'd pay to watch you do that ADH.
This I disagree with completely.
How rare... 😆
al - how much?
*readies loincloth*
We could grow our own food when not tiger wreslting of course ? how radicle would that be ? Knit our own clothes, grow beards,bathe naked in the local river......the possibilities are endless 8)
The way we all live could be more basic and vastly improved, don't you think ?
It could. But the economy would have to take a massive leap backwards.
Very very complicated business this global economy. Potentially a lot of people would have to starve to death.
We can't all do fabulous jobs, can we? Some of us MUST do the rubbish, otherwise it won't get done.
nah, that's just not true.
in germany there is a massive emphasis on getting a degree and having a proper career.
the GF's old man thinks i'm a disaster and calls me a "lebenskuenstler" as i flit about between jobs. i earn enough to cover my expenses, contribute and afford a few of (my) luxuries.
whereas many of the GF's contempoararies are all 'well educated' (they went to uni, many are unemployed, have several thousand €s of debt, but at least they got a piece of paper at the end of it). some have a good job, but i don't think that they are necessarily happy with their lot.
it peeves me that when you ask how they are there first or second point is usually work related - how much they've got going on; how the boss annoys them; how early they got up; what conference they have to fly to.
if you don't like it, don't do it. more so, don't maon to me about at.... i'm happy.
molgrips - Member"The way we all live could be more basic and vastly improved, don't you think ?"
It could. But the economy would have to take a massive leap backwards.
would that be such a bad thing?
work four days, ride/swim/walk/relax three.
Personally, I think my job could be much improved by working 4 days on, 4 days off. It'd never come to pass though, due to the number of my co-workers who have kids.
I pretty much agree that the age of keeping up with the Jones has past in terms of material possessions.
Most of my mates dont own cars/houses etc they all rent they dont really have that much of in terms of possessions.
But there does seem to be some kind of keeping up with the Jones in terms of experience ie whos had the most holidays, whos done the most extreme holiday, whos run the fastest half marathon, who has cycled across the country, whos the best footy player ?
Im not so guilty of the first things ie holidays but Im pretty guilty of the second group.
Its not about who does what job though is it ? Its the way we live our lives. It could be so much better and the numerous mentions of careers and stuff just reinforces the here we go back into the rat race culture.
I dinnae have much in the way of responsibilities, so it's easy for me to say this... but material stuff equals clutter, which (by and large) I can often do without. I've got a good degree, from a good university. I've worked for the best part of a decade at the sharp end of the NHS. I'm currently mulling over my next move - but as long as I'm near some decent woods, I'm happy.
Really, my only ambitions for the next ten years are to read books and ride my bike, as much as I possibly can. Shacking up with Chan Marshall would be a bonus, though.
It could. But the economy would have to take a massive leap backwards.
would that be such a bad thing?
Yes. There would not be enough money moving around to feed everyone. Particularly in the developing world.