One of my favorite movies of the past 20 years actually was considered a box office flop but later gained a cult following. It featured the first pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. It was called “Joe vs the Volcano”.Joe Banks worked in a job where routinely day after day people acted like drones and went in to do their job. One day when he went to the doctor he was diagnosed with a “Brain Cloud”. He was told that it was terminal and he would have a very short time to live. After contemplation he was convinced by a person that he would be given very large amount of cash if in the end before he would die, he would jump into a volcano in a far away island. So he lived a life of luxury and eventually set out to go to the island. On the way he met Patricia and fell in love with her. They ran into a storm and the boat sank but they were saved by his luggage that he tied together. They ended up awash on the shore of the destination island. After a party by the natives Joe was supposed to go up the volcano and appease the gods according to the local customs. Patricia decided to go with Joe and jump together. While on the way up Patricia figured out that Joe had a fictitious disease and wasn’t dying after all. Well they had to make the decision to jump. Was Joe going to jump anyways because his life would be no worse off than that of slaving away in his job? The girl he loved was going to jump with him. So they jumped. They decided they weren’t going to go half way, they were going to go for it, hell or high water. The volcano ended up blowing them out about a mile into the ocean and somehow that same luggage mysteriously appeared for them. They were alive and happy in the end.

The movie was very symbolic. The only color and piece of individualism in the office where Joe worked was Joe’s lamp he kept it in a drawer till he came into the office. This was quickly quashed by his boss. When Joe had made the decision to live like a king and die like a man, he said “There are certain times in your life when I guess you’re not supposed to have anyone, you know..certain doors you gotta go through alone.”

You gotta go through alone… Hmm… It may effect your family but it really is a decision that has to originate from you. How many of us are at that road or door? How many of us even notice that there is even a door we could go through? How many of us are living drones going through the paces day after day hypnotized by the media and politicians that determine what is best for us? How many of us all of a sudden are approaching retirement and have yet to live? I’ve said before that most people will choose unhappiness over uncertainty, so most never even try anything with even a hint of risk. Well no wonder Joe took the plunge. His supposed demise was not going to be any worse than his dreary existence, though he now had Patricia.

I’ve spent to many years in Corporate America and I’ve made the commitment to get out. Completely out. I want to visit the world, I want to be able run on the beaches of the world while I still can run. I don’t want to wait till I’m 65 1/2. I want to visit places and stay as long as I feel like. I want to share with my wife helping children in orphanages. I want to live. There are too many opportunities out there where you can either simplify your life, slow down and smell the coffee, start part time businesses that make full time income, all while being able to do it anywhere you can get an internet connection. The sweet thing about it, is that the businesses you start can be about the things you are highly interested in and passionate about. Do you see the face of your boss more than your children and wife? Are you looking for something else? Are you ready to make that symbolic leap of faith?