Chapter 1
It was the grind. The race. And Kel was engulfed in it. He worked, ran from one meeting to the next, pored for hours over goals and targets and todo lists. That’s what all the self-help books had said he should be doing. He’d just forgotten why.
There was a time when it was about money. About becoming wealthy, the dream with lambos and tropical islands and parties. Now, it was about the grind. The never ending race, and it was proving impossible to withdraw from. Work had become an addiction, the thing he no longer got any pleasure out of, but could no more walk away from than he could quit breathing.
Arghhh. The thought spirals again. He shook himself awake, realizing he’d been staring at a blank wall again. He checked his watch, a fine Rolex that had once sparked excitement every time he glanced at it. Forty minutes had passed, he was 10 minutes late to a conference call and he hadn’t even added his last meetings notes to confluence! He’d have to take that time out of sleep again. It was the only negotiable in his schedule.
Hours later, Kel found himself in his apartment, once again, staring at a wall. He had things to do…meetings to set up…goals to review. He wondered what would happen if he just decided to live in a rainforest. Away from everyone, from the grind, from the race. What if he just quit, let the others win, walked away without telling a soul. And that thought lingered. Festered. What’s the worst that could happen? He had no family, no dependents, nothing tying him down save his own mindset. His own mad will to finish the race that had no end, to win the competition that had no winners.
And over the coming days, Kel’s heart beat a little faster everytime he thought of it. Leaving. Quitting. He realized a part of him was excited, that excitement was still possible, and with that he realized it was not only possible, it was inevitable. He’d once started along this path because the thought of wealth had excited him. Now he would leave it for the same reason. The Amazon rainforest? Why not! And if that grew boring he’d go somewhere else. Live a different life. Live a hundred lives and a hundred different places. Now that was exciting.
