To Grind or Not to Grind

Last week a friend mentioned that he wanted to know t-BONE’s thoughts on whys some people seem to ease through life without worrying about home ownership, retirement accounts or societal expectations. Living “off the grind” if you will. What follows are my thoughts on the topic. I am open to all suggestions from the t-BONERS (those who enjoy reading At Home With t-BONE) on topics to cover. You want me to cover something, let me know. And if you know me, you know that no subject is off-limits. Now on to the show…

This morning I woke up around 5:45am. I walked dog-BONE, bathed, shaved, and got dressed—blue suit, white shirt, red tie and hair handsomely parted to the right if you cared to ask. I made two soy lattes, one for me, one for lady-BONE (hers was iced with cinnamon of course). I packed up my work stuff from the night before and was on the road by 7am. It took me and hour and a half to drive about 20 miles. I got to the office, answered some emails, wrote a tantalizing piece for our newsletter and spent most of the day developing the 2011 budget for my department. I skipped lunch so I could be on a conference call and then headed out to attend a fundraiser for an Illinois Senate candidate. This is pretty much a normal day for me; not these specific tasks or projects but in general this is what I do day in and day out. It’s “the grind”.

Most of us spend our lives going from work to soccer practice, or canine grooming sessions in my case, and back home to finish up whatever we couldn’t finish during the day. We spend our nights and weekends checking work email, finishing projects and trying to make a play up the ladder so that we can give our kids the catholic education God wants them to have, take a few nice vacations along the way and hope that in the end we can retire comfortably. But why is this the way?

I know several people that shun the grind and they seem to be living just fine. Maybe without the nice car or iPAD, but well enough. We ask, how do they do it, and why? Are they crazy? I mean are they saving for the future, making sure they will live comfortably and “safe”?  I came to the realization a few years ago that there is more to life than safe and comfortable. As such I started looking a little closer into the lives of those who didn’t let society tell them how to live. What I found was a new perspective on life. If you look a little closer you will see that most living off the grind aren’t living recklessly (well in some cases they are but that is a different post altogether); they are living in the moment. Something we should all strive to do more in our own lives. When you look even deeper you see that they are having a blast and in many cases living their dreams or trying to fulfill a passion that society cannot rein in.

At some point t-BONE fell hook, line and sinker for the grind. I bought in fully to what society told me was right. I’m not complaining, I like my life well enough. The point is that it is not necessarily “the way” and others are living quite happily without committing to the grind. To some extent I have been trying to slowly halt this behavior to a point where there is a solid balance. Even if I cannot buy into this lifestyle wholeheartedly for some reason. Society’s force is

strong with this one. For now I cannot help but be a little envious. Before my grandma passed she always told me to take advantage of what you can do when you’re young even if you don’t think you can afford it, because someday you will be able to afford what you are no longer able to enjoy.

Do t-BONE (and yourself) a favor this weekend. Take one day to not answer or check any work emails, think about work or do anything other than make an effort to answer some deep yearning within your soul. Explore your passion, and in the end you will realize that living off the grind sometimes probably means you’re happier.

Sometimes t-BONE goes deep, but he will be back next week with his usual routine.

Stay thirsty my friends.