We Are #NotWinning

At the close of 2016, I left the United States.

My life had not matched the dream I’d been sold. I’d been raised to not only believe in the nuclear family, democratic rule, capitalism and romantic love, but to worship them. America and its values were the shining city on the hill, an example to all the world, to all of human history. We were winning. So much winning. Except…

We are #NotWinning.

My life at the conclusion of 2016, just after that embarrassing presidential election, bore all the scars of our failed culture. Was this it? Consumerism and serial dating? Broken families and the daily grind?

I simply did not accept that this was the best we could do; that I was participating in a culture that was leading toward anything like the life I’d hoped for as a child. So, I sold all but that which would fit into a single suitcase and left the United States.

Walking Away

With the blessing of being able to make a living over the internet, I spent the next two years wandering Latin America. As I worked to put my life into perspective, I began an intensive research project to better understand the forces that had shaped it.

The City of The Fallen Churches

I write this today in my new home in Antigua, Guatemala.This cobblestoned colonial city is punctuated by dozens of ancient fallen churches. The city has chosen to leave these failed structures in place, and they have become a reminder to me of the fallen culture and failed norms that I’ve left behind.

I have charted a new course that has given my life better purpose and stronger meaning.

A New Philosophy. A Better Way To Live

I have developed a new philosophy that can help you to make this same journey. Much of my experience will resonate with your own. My failures are not unique; they are the natural outcome of a culture and system that sets us up to fail. A system that cannot produce the benefits we believe we are pursuing. I learned that despite the glowing lives we portray on social media, most of us are lost in very similar ways.

Are you lost? Are you in the same tailspin I was in? There is a way out. But more importantly, there is a way forward! But you have to be prepared to work for it. You have to be prepared to kill the sacred cows of your cultural beliefs. Doing so save my life, and gave me a new one. It can do the same for you.

Timothy
A Guide

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