Everyone can do it. It's true, what they said was true. "If you believe you can achieve." You can do it, I can do it; but why doesn't everyone do it. Well because to do it, one must be willing. Willing to try and willing to fail. What is a seemingly simple thing to do becomes an impossibility. I think it has to do with the fact that we make doing it a chore. Before I go any further, just to clarify if I wasn't blatantly forward, the "it" that we can all "do" is anything we want to! 

Yes, we can and you've done it before it's just that we tend to forget. Imagine a time when you really wanted to do, like go to a concert, travel, find a job, etc. you managed to do it somehow. Maybe the job wasn't what you had dreamed for but you got an interview, got dressed, presented yourself gracefully arriving earlier than usual, answered questions like Ms. America, with more words than necessary, nervous, but pretending to be composed. A week later you answered the phone with the willingness to give up any plans to start the job. The job that you really didn't want.  It sounds to me like it was something you wanted, you took the many necessary steps to acquire this want. You did it because at the time it was something you wanted. Change it into something you actually wanted like going to a concert. You request the days off, find someone to go with, buy the tickets and eventually you go. You do this because you wanted to. 

Now of course these are all examples of "normal" occurrences but they are completely random moments of events. For example, I might not have had an interview in years, but someone is having one at this very moment. So "'normal" doesn't really exist. It's an idea people create in their heads to accept the mundanity of lives as something that is happening "naturally" as if we all must live these sorts of lives. So one must rid themselves of the notion of normal. Nothing is normal and everything you do every day is unique, it's just up to you how unique you make today. 

Through this philosophy, I have obtained many things that I have wanted. I'm a man of life's pleasures rather than this world's riches. I have learned that my happiness comes from the thrill of life. Traveling many places, seeing new wonders, tasting distinct foods, chasing adrenaline. It's been a journey. I've been able to do this all because I wanted to. 

When you want something bad enough, you manifest it. You create a world in which all circumstances will happen accordingly to your wants all for the sake of you being able to do whatever. Manifestation is happening whether we act on it or not. Sometimes we tend to focus on what we don't want to happen so much that we create it. Therefore, just like when we wanted to get that job, we take the necessary steps to ensure that we get that outcome. Things don't have to be as complex as we create them to be. 

Just as if one wanted to learn to play the guitar. They must at some point pick up the guitar or else the learning will never take place. I believe that a key step towards living a life that you truly want, one must be aware that it is an attainable goal. It is not an unachievable impossibility, it is more of a choice of actions. Your choice of actions will determine the outcome you get, but you're in control all along. We must take steps toward reaching self-actualization.  Create the reality you want by founding on it.  Release the idea of normal or create a new normal for you. Make it normal for you to go concerts and travel. Any time you want something to happen it will happen. Be aware of any excuses you might give yourself of why you can't do it. Tell yourself you can, follow your intuition and chase your dreams. You're disciplined enough to go to work daily, all  for someone else's dreams. You can discipline yourself to manifest wonders. It's your world. What will you create? 

One should follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the noble; one should follow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.
-Dhammapada

I am two men; one who travels the world, lives life moment by moment, learning from experience, becoming enlightened. 
The other, a societal slave, trying to become successful, with a great job, a beautiful home and time to go on vacations. 
I am a nomad and a typical American, trapped in one body, with an internal struggle of life versus comfort.

Who Am I?

Who am I? This is a question that is asked every day all over the world. I believe that without this question humanity would not have reached the heights we have reached today. "I" is a very hard thing to define for me, for I know I am more than a body filled with bones, blood, muscles, and fats. I am more than this skin containing it all together. I am more than the heart pumping blood through my body seemingly endlessly and am more than the brain that tries to rationalize this question. Am I really more though or am I convincing myself that I am? When I walk around this world and see all the different faces, all the different smiles, life moving effortlessly I am overcome with all these thoughts and emotions; for who are they. I see people act and talk in ways where I am truly overcome with discourage that maybe I am just this skin filled with bones and blood. What brings me to this conclusion is it seems to me that people have forgotten how to care about anything but "me." It is as though self-interest fills the minds of the masses, so much that we have disregarded other humans' feelings and the greater good of Mother Earth. It is about what benefits "me," what is more convenient for "me," what does this or that do for "me". We were so united at one point in history. We had to rely on each other, otherwise humans would be extinct. Our ancestors weren't the strongest nor  the fastest but we had a communion of individuals which would apply their strengths to supply the needs for one another. We had hunters and gatherers which created a balance and maintained ordinance among us. That is how humanity flourished. Now we live in a world dominated by the idea of "capitalism." "Do what you must to generate the highest income for you and yours. Disregard the others, capitalize on their ignorance and needs by any means necessary." The word "capitalism" is probably derived from the the word "capitalize." And capitalizing on each other and this world is exactly what us humans have been doing. We do not care that cutting down trees affects hundreds of animal lives so long as we can create money from it. We do not care about the trash that we create that harms wildlife and poor countries. We do not care if hundreds of thousands of American soldiers and foreigners lives' are lost over a war on oil just as long as we can buy gas to drive our cars to take us to our jobs. To me it sounds exactly what a sack of bones and blood would do. It is a caste system in to which we are born into and we do not question, we simply try to get out of it with the hope that is instilled in us called "the American Dream."
So who am I, born into this false dream in a society that does not care? I am even less than skin, less than bones, less than blood. I am a disturbance to the culture. I do not represent what this humanity needs because I do not want to feed into what this upside-down life wants me to provide for it. I am lost. I have lost faith that getting a degree will get me the job I need, so I can live the life I want to and buy the things I need in order to find happiness. Which brings me to the true realization that I am more than just blood-filled skin. I am a sentient being which most definitely has a soul and this soul is not something of the ordinary. This is a hopeful soul, a soul which wants the world to be a better place. A soul that sees the different faces and smiles and finds hope in them. A soul that wants to help others find the peace and happiness they seek inside of themselves instead of in things. I am a human which comes with emotions, thoughts and flaws. I live under these capitalist rules and therefore am trying my best to justify my actions. I have been raised a certain way and am trying to break the mold.  This soul to me is more important than anything I can hold. I want to be inspiration, I want to be optimism, I want to be fulfilled. I am grateful for all the tools I have been given and for the opportunity of living here and now. I just want to enlighten my soul. I want to create a change. I don't want to question who am I anymore. I want to find the potential in "US' instead of "me." When I see the faces of those I love I am filled with hope as great as the sun. I see in them what I wish to see in the rest of the world. I am fortunate for those around me all seem to have good intentions. I wish to see the world get better. Technology has gotten us so far and we have the ability to create machines that can make a better living place for all existing, but we need to start using it that way.
I thank you humans out there making a difference. Even if the difference is within you. Any positive change is a good change. Together we can make this world the marvelous place it was meant to be.