Hi guys, sorry I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I just haven’t felt like writing lately, but all is well and I’ve had a pretty good couple of weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to add a few more thoughts (from others) on normality, following from my post ‘There’s nothing good about normal!‘ a few weeks back.

First of all, Carissa just added a new comment and seeing as though most people don’t often go back and read comments from old threads I thought it deserved greater prominence. She wrote:

“Was re-reading this entry and I thought of some additional things that are now seen as “normal” in our society but which aren’t.

It’s now normal to root for people to fail and fall on their butts, and to see people as competition, versus cheering for people to succeed and being happy for them.  There are several reasons for this I think – so many people’s lives are unhappy and unfulfilling (which in itself is a point that I’ll get back to) that they can’t stand to see people achieving something good and being happy when they aren’t.  They want to tear them down to their own level.  So watching somebody fail or screw up or fall on their butt (figuratively speaking) becomes fun in an evil gleeful way.  (hence, the *tabloid culture,* which specializes in that.  Tear people down for the paparazzi pics capturing them with celulite on their thighs, no makeup, wrinkles, or an outfit that’s not deemed “haute couture” enough.  Look on in giddy glee when their relationships fall apart, look for the drugs, sex and cheating scandals after they’ve died so even in death they can be raked over the coals.)  This is now considered normal.  Which leads to how celeb-obsessed entertainment is now considered normal.  Following the minutae of celebs’ lives because people’s own lives are boring and pointless.

The jealousy/competition thing is an extreme manifestation of separation.  Instead of viewing ourselves as related pieces of a greater whole, they mistakenly think we’re all cut off from each other and completely separate…and thus, competition to be jealous of.   So it’s now considered normal to be separate, competitive, jealous, gossipy and mean spirited.  Not everybody is like that, but in certain regions (urban centers in particular) that attitude is prevailant.   We have movies and TV shows that celebrate this attitude, with backbiting and cat fights and scheming and plotting and jealousies galore, trying to tell people, “This is how you should be.  This is the new normal.  Strive for this.  Emulate this.”

And as just mentioned, it’s now considered normal to have an unfulfilling, mundane and possibly unhappy life.  You mentioned how it’s considered normal to hang with one’s friends being superficial and mundane (I definitely agree!) and this extends to one’s entire life in general.  I look around at people and I can’t believe the lives and jobs that most people have locked themselves into!  o_0   Like, who would WANT to do that……for years on end?!?!?!  Is that what they imagined for themselves as a kid??!  Who grows up saying “I want to be an accounting clerk who’s always irritated and frustrated obsessing over getting the numbers to balance!”  Nobody.  Or, “I want to be a stressed out executive assistant to a boss I don’t like, being run ragged every day!”  Nobody.  Or, “I want to become a corporate guy working for donor relations and attend endless mindless meetings where it’s all about ‘How can I get more money for the university?’ !”  Nobody.   Jobs with no life to them, no variety, no real point, *working for that which is illusory,* so that one can insure that they can keep paying the bills every month.  To me it’s a life not worth having.  Work should ideally be about producing something tangible……….not working for illusory concepts.  (I once wrote in one of my articles: “Banks, loans, credit cards, debt counseling and consolidation, taxes, personal investment, mortgages, car/home/boat/personal insurance, law firms, home owners associations — what I’ve found is that the number of useless, illusory industries is skyrocketing, while jobs that create an actual tangible product and serve a useful purpose are on the decline. [...] What good is it going to do anybody to be a financial investor, lawyer, paralegal, mortgage underwriter, IRS agent, insurance salesperson, credit card telemarketer or property manager enforcing rules for the Association about mowing your lawn and power washing your driveway when/if things finally really hit the fan? These people will kind of be up the creek, to put it lightly. Their jobs and industries are completely useless in every sense of the word. So since illusion is what now dominates your job market choices, it’s all the more reason to find a way out, ASAP.”

Illusory concepts is now considered the norm, instead of making or doing something tangible and meaningful.

I work with people who’ve been doing the same lifeless, pointless job for 20, 25, 30 years.  I can’t even IMAGINE.  The worse part is when I encounter coworkers who hate their jobs and complain and gripe and moan and groan….and then what happens when I nonchalantly suggest to them that they quit.  Their faces get a wide eyed, surprised look, like, “huh?!”   You can see them running into a wall with the idea.  It never occurrred to them to leave.  They think I’m weird for suggesting such a thing.  You don’t…..quit your job!  They think it’s normal that you hate your job and complain and be miserable for years and years on end!

I can think of many more so-called normal ways of being in the modern western world that are anything but normal, but I’ll stop here!  :D  ’Cause
I could go on all day, seriously…..”

Great stuff Carissa, I agree entirely!

Also, about a week after I made the original post, I discovered Paulo Coelho also looked at the subject of normality on his blog. Given that I’m connected with him through Facebook and that he might have seen my blog post in his newsfeed I wondered if he was influenced by my post, but then I noticed he posted it in January so he was first.

You can see Paulo’s blog post here: Inventory of normality

(Thanks again to Sue for passing this on)

The Unforgettable Commencement Address by Paul Hawken to the Class of 2009, University of Portland, May 3, 2009

When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a

simple short talk that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate,

lean, shivering, startling, and graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.

But let’s begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are

going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth

at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of

decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not

one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute

that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you

are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.

This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to

have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water,

soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch

the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that

spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue

that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per

hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really

good food, but all that is changing.

There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will

receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can

tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING.

The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school.

It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and

that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And

here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not

possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know

what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it

was impossible only after you are done.

When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my

answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is

happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data.

But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and

the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a

pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing

to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore

some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world. The poet

Adrienne Rich wrote, “So much has been destroyed I have cast my lot

with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary

power, reconstitute the world.” There could be no better description.

Humanity is coalescing. It is reconstituting the world, and the action

is taking place in schoolrooms, farms, jungles, villages, campuses,

companies, refuge camps, deserts, fisheries, and slums.

You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups

and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day:

climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger,

conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the

world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather

than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like

Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large

as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides

hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its

clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers,

children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns,

artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students,

incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets,

doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the

President of the United States of America, and as the writer David

James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such

a huge way.

There is a rabbinical teaching that says if the world is ending and

the Messiah arrives, first plant a tree, and then see if the story is

true. Inspiration is not garnered from the litanies of what may befall

us; it resides in humanity’s willingness to restore, redress, reform,

rebuild, recover, reimagine, and reconsider. “One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept

shouting their bad advice,” is Mary Oliver’s description of moving

away from the profane toward a deep sense of connectedness to the

living world.

Millions of people are working on behalf of strangers, even if the

evening news is usually about the death of strangers. This kindness of

strangers has religious, even mythic origins, and very specific

eighteenth-century roots. Abolitionists were the first people to

create a national and global movement to defend the rights of those

they did not know. Until that time, no group had filed a grievance

except on behalf of itself. The founders of this movement were largely

unknown Granville Clark, Thomas Clarkson, Josiah Wedgwood and their

goal was ridiculous on the face of it: at that time three out of four

people in the world were enslaved. Enslaving each other was what human

beings had done for ages. And the abolitionist movement was greeted

with incredulity. Conservative spokesmen ridiculed the abolitionists

as liberals, progressives, do-gooders, meddlers, and activists. They

were told they would ruin the economy and drive England into poverty.

But for the first time in history a group of people organized

themselves to help people they would never know, from whom they would

never receive direct or indirect benefit.. And today tens of millions

of people do this every day. It is called the world of non-profits,

civil society, schools, social entrepreneurship, and non-governmental

organizations, of companies who place social and environmental justice

at the top of their strategic goals. The scope and scale of this

effort is unparalleled in history.

The living world is not “out there” somewhere, but in your heart. What

do we know about life? In the words of biologist Janine Benyus, life

creates the conditions that are conducive to life. I can think of no

better motto for a future economy. We have tens of thousands of

abandoned homes without people and tens of thousands of abandoned

people without homes. We have failed bankers advising failed

regulators on how to save failed assets. Think about this: we are the

only species on this planet without full employment. Brilliant. We

have an economy that tells us that it is cheaper to destroy earth in

real time than to renew, restore, and sustain it. You can print money

to bail out a bank but you can’t print life to bail out a planet. At present

we are stealing the future, selling it in the present, and calling it gross

domestic product. We can just as easily have an economy that is based on

healing the future instead of stealing it. We can either create assets for the

future or take the assets of the future. One is called restoration and the

other exploitation. And whenever we exploit the earth we exploit people

and cause untold suffering. Working for the earth is not a way to get rich,

it is a way to be rich.

The first living cell came into being nearly 40 million centuries ago,

and its direct descendants are in all of our bloodstreams. Literally

you are breathing molecules this very second that were inhaled by

Moses, Mother Teresa, and Bono. We are vastly interconnected. Our

fates are inseparable. We are here because the dream of every cell is

to become two cells. In each of you are one quadrillion cells, 90

percent of which are not human cells. Your body is a community, and

without those other microorganisms you would perish in hours. Each

human cell has 400 billion molecules conducting millions of processes

between trillions of atoms. The total cellular activity in one human

body is staggering: one septillion actions at any one moment, a one

with twenty-four zeros after it. In a millisecond, our body has

undergone ten times more processes than there are stars in the

universe exactly what Charles Darwin foretold when he said science

would discover that each living creature was a “little universe formed

of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute

and as numerous as the stars of heaven.”

So I have two questions for you all: First, can you feel your body?

Stop for a moment. Feel your body. One septillion activities going on

simultaneously, and your body does this so well you are free to ignore

it, and wonder instead when this speech will end. Second question: who

is in charge of your body? Who is managing those molecules? Hopefully

not a political party. Life is creating the conditions that are

conducive to life inside you, just as in all of nature. What I want

you to imagine is that collectively humanity is evincing a deep innate

wisdom in coming together to heal the wounds and insults of the past.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once asked what we would do if the stars only came

out once every thousand years. No one would sleep that night, of

course. The world would become religious overnight. We would be

ecstatic, delirious, made rapturous by the glory of God. Instead the

stars come out every night, and we watch television.

This extraordinary time when we are globally aware of each other and

the multiple dangers that threaten civilization has never happened,

not in a thousand years, not in ten thousand years. Each of us is as

complex and beautiful as all the stars in the universe. We have done

great things and we have gone way off course in terms of honoring

creation. You are graduating to the most amazing, challenging,

stupefying challenge ever bequested to any generation. The generations

before you failed. They didn’t stay up all night. They got distracted

and lost sight of the fact that life is a miracle every moment of your

existence. Nature beckons you to be on her side. You couldn’t ask for

a better boss. The most unrealistic person in the world is the cynic,

not the dreamer. Hopefulness only makes sense when it doesn’t make

sense to be hopeful. This is your century. Take it and run as if your

life depends on it.

Paul Hawken is a renowned entrepreneur, visionary environmental
activist, and author of many books, most recently Blessed Unrest: How
the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw
It Coming. He was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane
letters by University president Father Bill Beauchamp, C.S.C., in May,
when he delivered this superb speech. Our thanks especially to Erica
Linson for her help making that moment possible.

www.paulhawken.com

Just want to recommend a really good article by Charles Eisenstein that I read yesterday. I’ve enjoyed a lot of Charles’ articles (many of which can be found on Reality Sandwich) but this one really resonated with me.

You can read it at: http://www.realitysandwich.com/gathering_tribe

Love this bit

Who are these missionaries from the more beautiful world? You and I are surely among them. Where else could this longing come from, for this magical place to be found nowhere on earth, this beautiful time outside of time? It comes from our intuitive knowledge of our origin and destination. The longing, indomitable, will never settle for a world that is less. Against all reason, we look upon the horrors of our age, mounting over the millennia, and we say NO, it does not have to be this way! We know it, because we have been there. We carry in our souls the knowledge that a more beautiful world is possible. Reason says it is impossible; reason says that even to slow — much less reverse — the degradation of the planet is an impossible task: politically unfeasible, opposed by the Money Power and its oligarchies. It is true that those powers will fight to uphold the world we have known. Their allies lurk within even ourselves: despair, cynicism, and resignation to carving out a life that is “good enough” for me and mine.

But we of the tribe know better. In the darkest despair a spark of hope lies inextinguishable within us, ready to be fanned into flames at the slightest turn of good news. However compelling the cynicism, a jejune idealism lives within us, always ready to believe, always ready to look upon new possibilities with fresh eyes, surviving despite infinite disappointments. And however resigned we may have felt, our aggrandizement of me and mine is half-hearted, for part of our energy is looking elsewhere, outward toward our true mission.

Have you found your way into the tribe yet? we’re waiting for you!

Until recently, it’s fair to say I’ve never been much of an early bird, but neither have I ever been the type of person who doesn’t understand the concept of mornings. Having been self employed for well over 5 years now I’ve been in the fortunate position of being able to pick and choose the time I get out of bed and start any work I have on. For most of that 5+ years my average getting up time has been around 9am give or take an hour.

I’ve also never had much of a morning routine and I’ve frequently skipped breakfast except for perhaps an apple or something simple. Mornings are usually the time of day when I feel the most awake and the most alert, and have the most energy, but I have to admit that until recently I can’t say that I usually ever felt positively great!

But now I have a new routine that I’ve stuck to for almost 3 months now. I’d say it’s almost a habit, and it’s having a really tremendous affect on my day. I often spend most of the mornings positively buzzing, and my energy levels don’t usually start dropping by mid-afternoon like they used to. It’s 9pm as I sit here finishing this article and I still feel as alert and awake as I have all day.

So what’s my secret of starting the day feeling great?

Well it’s actually two secrets.

1) The Fruit & Superfood Smoothie

Make a fresh fruit smoothie every morning. You’ll need a food blender for this, but most people have them or you can buy them cheaply if you don’t have one. You don’t need an expensive model for making a simple fruit smoothie.

It probably doesn’t matter what fruit you use, but different fruit can certainly bring different benefits so it’s good to experiment. I usually add at least 1 banana (good source of protein), 1 apple, and then whatever else I fancy. Being in Peru now I can get a whole range of exotic fruits quite cheaply, although I haven’t been all that adventurous just yet. Pineapple is a yummy fruit to add, so are pears, melons and oranges. Make sure you slice the fruit into smaller pieces before adding to the blender. You’ll also need to add some liquid. Water, soya milk or almond milk are good choices. It’s often best to avoid dairy for a variety of different reasons.

However, that’s not all. For maximum benefit you should also add a few superfood ingredients. I’ll probably write more about superfoods another time, but if you’re not familiar with the term just know that superfoods are natural foods that contain much higher than normal amounts of nutrition (usually in the form of vitamins and minerals) that often benefit a wide variety of bodily functions.

The two superfoods I like to add are Maca powder and Cacao (powder or nibs). And even though both of these are native to Peru it was actually in Canada where I first learnt about them and started to use them. Both should be available in most health food stores. Both of them bring a whole range of benefits to the body.

For example Cacao (which is 100% raw chocolate) contains over 300 chemical compounds making it the most chemically complex food known to man. It is the highest source of magnesium which is highly beneficial to both the heart and the brain and it is also the worlds number 1 anti-oxidant.

2) Yoga, Breathing and Meditation

Secondly (although I usually do this first thing when I get out of bed) is doing some yoga, breathing and meditation exercises.

Now for some reason I’ve avoided yoga for the last 10 years or so, and until very recently I’d never performed a yoga position in my life. Which is a bit weird in a way, seeing as though I’m Mr Holistic Local, fascinated by all things spiritual and holistic, and Yoga is probably THE most popular holistic discipline in the world.

So what brought me to it? Well in late February this year I did an Art of Living course in Canada which was a really wonderful experience. Art of Living is an organisation founded by an amazing Indian mystic/guru called Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with the goal of “uplifting humanity by bringing peace at the level of the individual, society, nation and the world as a whole.”

Anyway, I’ll probably write more about Art of Living another time because that’s not the purpose of this article. The point being that I learnt some Yoga (Sun Salutations) and some very powerful breathing exercises on the Art of Living course that I did.

Now I can’t say too much about what these exercises are. It’s not necessarily a secret, it’s just that the information is fairly meaningless without going through the whole process of learning them yourself.

What I will say is that one of the three breathing techniques you learn is called Sudarshan Kriya and it really does have an amazing affect you. Here’s what the Art of Living website has to say abour Sudarshan Kriya:

The masterpiece of the the Art of Living Course is a powerful breathing-based technique called Sudarshan Kriya, or the healing breath. (The practice goes by this Sanskrit name in whatever language the program is taught throughout the world.) One of the breath’s great secrets is that for every feeling or emotion there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath. Sudarshan Kriya incorporates specific natural rhythms of breath to release stress and bring the mind to the present moment.

The practice is instrumental in creating a sense of harmony in the body, mind and spirit. After the practice, participants commonly report feeling calm and centered, with a clearer vision of the world and themselves.

Several independent studies on the numerous mental and physical health benefits of Sudarshan Kriya have been published in international peer-reviewed journals and confirm what participants commonly report. (link)

This exercise really is a great thing to do every morning, and I strongly advise that you learn this for yourself. Art of Living has centres in pretty much every major country, and Art of Living courses are run in pretty much every major city in the world, so do a bit of Googling and I’m sure you’ll find something fairly close to you.

So first I do a bit of yoga, then the breathing exercises and finally I finish by meditating for 15 or 20 minutes. I’ve been trying to get into a regular meditation practice for years, and I’ve never really succeeded beyond a few weeks. The benefits of meditation are beyond doubt, with study after study after  study showing that people who meditate regularly are more relaxed, less stressed and generally just happier and healthier in so many different ways.

However, for some reason I’ve always struggled to get into a regular meditation practice, but after practising Sudarshan Kriya you’re left in a state where meditation seems like the most natural thing in the world to do. In fact it’s more difficult NOT to meditate for awhile.

So that’s my morning practice -  yoga, breathing and meditation followed by a fruit & superfood smoothie. Do all that and it really is impossible not to feel awesome and have an amazing day.

If you have your own tried and tested methods for starting the day feeling awesome then please share them below.

A musician friend of mine, Cornelius, from London (well he’s Irish actually) has come up with the slogan “Do what you love, it’s your gift to the universe“. He’s a musician/songwriter who I definitely recommend you check out, and he plays a lot of the alternative UK music festivals.

Anyway, more than I want to promote Cornelius (which I’m always happy to do – check out his blog, music site and t-shirt store), I want to promote the importance of doing what you love, because I think Cornelius is so right in what he says.

Doing what you love is just so important if you want to live a happy and fulfilling life (and I’m assuming here that doing what you love won’t harm another human being in anyway).

Not only is it important for your own wellbeing, it really is important for the whole world and even the universe. Imagine a world in which every single person was doing what they truly loved. Would there still be wars, hate, disharmony, depression, unhappiness? I don’t think so.

Consider these not so good statistics:

Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world. (source)
In the UK, 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year. (source)
In 2006/7 530,000 people in the UK suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (source)

Why is that? Why are so many people unhappy?

Well, on the surface, people get depressed or unhappy for a countless number of different reasons. But I think you could probably distill almost all those reasons to one single reason – which is that they’re not doing what they love.

So many people have jobs they hate, and even relationships they hate, but they feel hopelessly trapped in them. People growing up in the western world are conditioned from a young age to believe that they need to get good qualifications in order to get a good career, so they can live a nice comfortable life, probably get married, have the obligatory 2.4 kids, nice house (with a not so nice mortgage), nice car, and whatever else it takes to keep up with the Jones’ next door. Then if you’re lucky you’ll retire at 65 with a nice pension, and you can relax and take it easy….until you die! Woohoo! What a great fucking life that is! (if you’ll pardon my french!). No wonder everyone’s so bloody depressed!

I interupt this post with a short commercial break, put together by the makers of South Park featuring the voice of the late great Alan Watts.

The fact is most jobs and ‘good careers’ are boring as hell. They don’t fulfil you in any meaningful way, they don’t give you any meaningful recognition for the amazing being that you truly are, and they sure as shit don’t make you happy.

Here’s the problem. Most people are just too afraid to take risks, they’re too afraid of what other people think, and they’re too afraid of failure.

If you’re not already doing what you love (and my hat off to you if you are!) then I’m absolutely sure that you have a secret dream of what you’d much rather be doing other than your current boring, crappy job! But, you keep that dream a secret don’t you? And for whatever reason you probably believe it will always remain a dream, and nothing more!

Well here’s a friendly rocket up your ass! Please get over yourself, get over your fears, and most of all get over what you think everyone else might think about dreams. You can’t change your family, but if your friends won’t support you then they’re not authentic friends so get rid of them, and find friends you know will encourage and support you.

What’s the point of living an unhappy and unfulfilled life? What’s the point of having dreams if you can’t realise them (or at least try to realise them). There is no point.

Please wake up! Know that you really can create the life you want. Know that your dreams can come true. Know that you have nothing worthwhile to lose, and everything to gain by chasing your dreams  and doing what you love.

And also know that what you’ve been conditioned to believe by western culture (ie that you need to make lots of money, and have a good career, to be happy and fulfilled) is the biggest load of bullshit that’s ever been sold.

I’ll leave you with the story of the Mexican Fisherman….

The Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

“You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

“Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”