Crossroads

I would like to share with you below a little gem left to us by the late American bluesman Calvin Russell. Regulars of this blog will immediately understand why this 'old' song is perfectly relevant to our favorite theme, namely financial independence:

I'm standing at the crossroads
There are many roads to take
But I stand here so silently
For fear of a mistake

One path leads to paradise
One path leads to pain
One path leads to freedom
But they all look the same.

I have traveled many roads
And not all of them where good
The foolish ones taught more to me
Than the wise ones ever could

One path leads to sacrifice
One path leads to shame
One path leads to freedom
But they all look the same.

There were roads I never traveled
There were turns I did not take
There were mysteries that I left unravelled
But leaving you was my only mistake.

So I'm standing at the crossroads
Imprisoned by this doubt
As if by doing nothing
I might find my way out

One path leads to paradise
One path leads to pain
One path leads to freedom
But they all look the same

When you consider that Calvin Russell didn't care about the American materialistic model, it's even more thought-provoking. This guy is there, at a crossroads. He's wondering which road to take. One of them leads to heaven, another to suffering, another to freedom, but they're all the same. They're all the same because you have to have known suffering to appreciate and enjoy freedom. Heaven is only possible if you've lived your life as you should, with its sorrows and its joys. You can't choose one path hoping to avoid the others.

Calvin also tells us that the seemingly stupid paths taught him much more than those that seemed wiser. We are taught from a young age to be good little schoolchildren, to blend in with the crowd, then to chain the metro-work-sleep routine until death follows or almost. All those who try to think of life outside of consumption and work seem at best nonconformists, at worst morons or even downright public dangers. Yet we would have so many more interesting things to learn by leaving this materialistic gilded prison.

There are many roads and detours that Calvin did not follow. There are many mysteries that he could not solve. But there is only one thing that he regrets, that of having left the path that he was following. When we have found our way, we must stick to it, even if the path is strewn with obstacles and doubts. We can deplore some of our mistakes, we can also admire the path followed by other people, but if we give up and leave the right path, then we will have to live with regrets for the rest of our days. The road to financial independence is long and difficult. Consumer society does everything to get us out of it, but if we hold on, freedom awaits us.

So Calvin stands at the crossroads, imprisoned by doubt, as if by doing nothing he would find his way. In our hyper-connected society, we are formatted to overreact. At the slightest problem, we must work, deliberate, study, analyze, embark on projects, create processes, most of the time in a sterile manner. We are rats in the laboratory, going around in circles in their cage. If we take the time to stop, however, if we can do so, then everything becomes clear. Inaction is in most cases the best advisor. Not only can it open our eyes to the path to follow, but it could even be that path, the one that leads to freedom...