I was thirty years old, made tons of money, lived in my dream house, traveled to far-flung destinations, had fancy cars and a luxury motor home, golfed five days a week, and owned a phenomenally successful plumbing/HVAC business that practically ran on autopilot.
I only worked when I wanted to and otherwise did as I pleased.Â
I had it all, the American dream, a lifestyle that others spend decades attempting to achieve, and I had accomplished it while still in my prime.Â
With all of that success, everything that anyone could want, I stood on a cliff at the Colorado National Monument and imagined stepping into the abyss...
I was ready to call it quits on this life and see what the next one offered. Despite all I had achieved, I felt that something was deeply wrong with me—that I was defective at the core.Â
I was hollow inside, and the emptiness hurt.Â
That day on the cliff was an awakening. It was the beginning of understanding the root of true happiness and contentment and rejecting what society had defined as success.Â
It was the beginning of discovering—and removing—the restrictions that I had imposed on myself.