In the olden days you became a slave if your parents sold you to buy a camel/goat, if you stole something, or if owed somebody money etc you then became a slave and had to carry out manual labour for a master often for no (or very little) money, your bed and food.
Some intelligent slaves with vision and a purpose would start saving up this small amount of copper over a number of years in the hope of one day being able to save up enough to buy their freedom back from their master. They would save up all their master’s copper but also carry out some other small tasks here and there playing the fiddle, telling fortunes or shining shoes etc for other people during down time. Their goal and purpose was so big that it constantly propelled them forwards making it easy to work hard each day! They were working towards becoming a FREE man!
Most slaves however would just spend their money on useless items, or alcohol, drugs and gambling to pass the time and to momentarily escape the oppressed/ uninspired life they lead and had now become accustomed to and accepted! Most of these slaves had no idea that buying their way out was even an option . . . because they weren’t looking for the answer. They had accepted their fate and the deep dark chasm that had become their life, and once in this place, and this frame of mind it’s hard to see a way out, especially if this way of life is considered normal. Their neighbours, friends and peers all lived this way so how were they to know there was a way out? The rich had lots of money, but them the slaves had none!
Fast forward a few hundred/thousand years . . . why are YOU working? Who is YOUR master? Many of us live an enslaved life today, carrying out uninspiring manual labour for 8+ hours a day each and every day, for very little money but who is your master? Your boss? The government? I’ll ask you again . . . . what are you working for? . . . . . Money? How much money do you need? Are you working to pay for a big house? A nice new BMW with leather seats, air con and cruise control? A new IPhone 10, IMac and Ipad? Are all these ‘things’ worth spending 8+ hours a day for the rest of your life working for?
What if you didn’t have to? What if you could be intelligent like the first slave, and save up a few of those pennies your master gave you, and maybe a few more from other sources so that one day you could also buy your freedom? What if I told you this was entirely possible, and a LOT easier today than it ever was for a slave! If we get our priorities straight and stop buying ‘stuff’ we don’t need and focus only on the essential items: food, shelter and clothing (not lavish brand new clothes or trainers every week), just the basics. I know it sounds like a boring life, but it’s not forever! It’s just for now so that we can save up enough copper, silver and gold to be able to buy our freedom so that we never have to carry out this slave work ever again! Isn’t that worth a few years of hardship? Don’t you think the second slave would have given up the drink and escapism if they knew there was a way that they could buy their freedom? Well I’m telling you there IS!
We have all enslaved OURSELVES!! We have no master, there is nobody whipping us, and we’re not going to get shot or hung if we put down our tools and stop working! We’re free men and women and we have nobody to answer to apart from ourselves! Once you open your eyes and see the light you will see there is another life outside of this zombie like, ‘matrix’ existence we currently all conform to. Just because our peers, neighbours, colleagues and family all live this life of enslavement doesn’t mean that we have to too. They will all call you boring, and tell you to live a little, “there’s more to life than working and saving” . . . but who will be the slave in the end? The one that carries on working and spending everything they have until they are 70 (or drop down dead before they have chance to retire)? Or the one who works hard and saves and invests their money for a few years then never has to work another day in their life?
I know which slave I would rather be . . . . but which slave would YOU rather be . . . . . ?
Great blog, it’s got me thinking of things from a different perspective.
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