Joie De Vivre - Joy of Life

Why?
Everyone wants to know "why".

Realizations
I realized that I am totally responsible for my life experiences. I had safe and secure, but I craved the wild and unknown. Why spend the glorious days of my independent youth in a cubicle doing work that is unfulfilling? Why work for a company that is incongruent with your personal life philosophy? I'm in no rush to become boring. I want the unconventional & experimental.

I was making great money with potential to make even more. I was beginning to know what success looked and smelled like. Trouble was, it just didn’t look and smell good. I realized that staying in a job/situation you dislike can be just as risky as pursuing the one you love.

According to the Conference Board, 40 percent of employees feel disconnected from their companies, two out of three do not identify with or feel motivated to support their employee’s business objective, and 25 percent are “just showing up to collect a paycheck”.

I also realized that I was given an unbelievable freedom that many of my friends wish they had. According to one study, two-thirds of today's college graduates will pick up their diploma along with a load of student loan debt — the average amount is $20,000. At the same time, the average college senior had six credit cards, with a total balance of more than $3,200; one in five students had a credit card debt between $3,000 and $7,000. Miraculously, I graduated from UWM with no loans of any type.

Purpose
My plan is very simple. It is to keep my eyes open and simply allow myself to enjoy what the world has to offer. Learn from everyone I meet and all the experiences I have. No regrets.

Goodbye Bremen, hello Barcelona!

"Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing." - Helen Keller