It is often mused about that one man can change history.
So I ponder the question – what could 10,000 do?
Most people simply drift along in their life. They don’t want to rock the boat. They don’t even know if the boat they’re on is wood, metal, or concrete. They don’t know if they have sails or an engine, they may have never gone on deck, simply living underneath it. Some may never be able to get on deck. To stand there at the edge of infinity of the sea and witness the vastness of the world. The beauty of it. The sound of the seagulls chirping, the noise of the waves crashing gently, the gust of the wind picking up the salt of the sea.
Maybe you’re the lucky one. You stand atop this ship and see the whole thing for what it is – magnificent. And you want to show your friends. Your family. Your loved ones. But to do that you must venture back into the hull. Where it’s dark and musty and pestilent. Some of your friends are near the top of the ship and you grab them and bring them up effortlessly. Some see the wonder you see. Others do not, they need to get back to what they’re doing in the hull.
Then you bring your friends back and go further down. You find some more friends and family. You try to ask them to see what’s up above as they’ve never seen it. Some think you’re a liar. Others explode with curiosity. Between all of them are those who have chains, and those who do not. Some are self-made. You may bust one friend out of the chains who desperately wants to see what you speak of. While another is busted out, but does want to go at all, perhaps trying their hardest to recast their chains.
They’re comfortable and safe in their hell.
So you leave them, and bring whom you have with you to the top of the ship. You get the same remarks, some explode with wonder, others are too worried about getting back to what they were doing.
And then you notice the Captain. Let’s just say he’s at the wheel. Let’s just say this has been a Pirate Ship the whole time. Because Pirates are fun.
You go up to the Captain and ask why he’s keeping people below deck this whole time like this when they could entirely hang out above deck for most of the time.
He does not listen to you. You take a look ahead. There’s a storm. Hell, a hurricane.
Instinctively, you try to grab the ship’s wheel and spin it elsewhere, anywhere. Away from the cyclone of terror, of the mountain of waves, of the lighting strikes.
But the Captain pushes you back away, aggressively, and knocks you down. The most recent people you brought on deck come over to help you up and you just now catch the Captain’s face. Not noticing it shaded by the hat and blinded by the brightness of the sun earlier.
It’s yours.
And everyone else around you has that sense of shock as well. You investigate and question them. They all mutter something about how the Captain looks just like them. You get back up, scream and shout and point to the hurricane ahead. But the Captain does not move. The Captain keeps the ship moving as is. So you try moving them, pushing them, pulling them, kicking at their feet, ankles, back of the knee.
The Captain does not budge. And the Hurricane is coming closer.
All those around start to flee in terror. They begin running one by one back under deck. Sometimes, you hear the loud clacking of shackles adjusting through the galeforce. Sooner or later the crowd you brought with you has completely thinned, leaving only you and the Captain.
You try to reason, you try force, you try a cannon even. EVERYTHING you can think of.
The Captain does not budge. And the Hurricane is coming even closer.
You freak out. What do you do? What do you DO? You’re all going to die if you’re lucky. And some people never even seen the SUN. They have no idea what’s up here. The beauty and terror of the waves! The awe and power of the wind! The smell of sea and salt! They will die, likely drowned in their own chains as the ship sinks to the bottom of the sea, not even knowing what hit them. Sure, maybe those who ran below can warn them. But how do you explain a hurricane to someone who’s never seen more than a gust of breath?
Eventually, you try something you haven’t yet.
You grab the wheel itself.
The Captain turns to look at you.
He steps back and you step forward and grab the wheel with both hands.
Now you are in control of the ship of who knows how many people, teetering towards a hurricane in the middle of the sea. The lightning is brighter. The thunder is louder. The waves look bigger. The wind tugs more on the sails.
You look back and see the Captain has disappeared.
And you have obtained absolute power, at this moment, on this ship, to make a choice for countless people. You can give up, and give in, and be just like the Captain before and head into the hurricane. At this point it’s too hard, right? It’s too hard to get away. To make the decision yourself that could set you and others free….in a positive or negative way.
I mean why not right? They wouldn’t even know what hit ‘em. Some of them actively fought you as you tried to show them the way. That there is something better. Some of them didn’t even know they could fight back.
But now you have a choice to make for them simply by luck. Or unluck.
And you steer the ship away.
Fighting the full force of a hurricane. Then you realize maybe you can use this to your advantage. What if you moved with the winds and used it as a catapult to launch you off somewhere else, somewhere safe. What if you rushed right into the storm? Cutting through the whole thing and finding the peaceful center and then moving with it? What if you somehow managed to turn around against all will and simply go back the way you came.
Through thick and thin, you manage to maneuver this beast to safety. You eventually land on a clearly inhabited island. You’re sweating. Your fingers and hands have been torn anew with blisters. There’s some wood shavings scattered over them.
But you did it.
And sooner or later, people come out above deck.
They realize what you did. Some ask how you did. Others criticize you for how you did it. Others still want to be below deck, rechained up in safety.
Then, to your suprise, more and more ships begin landing nearby. Smashing into rocks and coral and piers. Every ship looks a little different but each Captain looks as haggard as you do. You begin to wave and everyone quickly begins meeting with each other and forming bonds and relationships.
The night ends around a cozy bonfire with many people who happened to have been in the same situation of absolute power and made a good choice. And with that thought it begs the question.
If one good man can change the world –
What can 10,000 do?
(Don’t worry Ladies, I include you in “Men” as well. It just doesn’t sound as epic to say “person”)
Anyway, here is a quick list of a couple of these 10,000 good people I am a fan, maybe I will explain further one day, but if you ended up here, you may already know all of them 😀 :
Mister Money Mustache:
The MadFIentist:
ChooseFI:
Millennial Revolution:
https://www.millennial-revolution.com/
Jillian Johnsrud:
https://www.jillianjohnsrud.com/
JL Collins:
Mr. & Mrs. 1500:
Paula Pant – Afford Anything
The Frugalwoods:
Alan Donegan:
Rich & Regular:
Learn Hustle Grow:
Our Next Life:
Among many, many others. This is not an exhaustive list, just a couple of the people who now live rent-free in my head forever. I would love to make an exhaustive list some day of everyone I can get my mittens on because there IS someone just like you, or enough like you out there that has made the rational choice to be a good person. Not one of these people are exactly like me but that doesn’t matter! They all value freedom and their time above all else and each of their stories have something useful for you to learn from! If you’re here and haven’t heard of them, simply wander around their sites or podcasts or blogs and take a listen. If it’s not me speaking to your soul, one of them certainly will.
Godspeed.