I aimed for freedom and hit submission

I always had freedom and justice as my most prominent values.

I wanted to be free, and freedom for me was doing everything I wanted.

So I started working at 15 to have money. I spent all my money, no matter how much came in. And the more money, the more I spent. By age 20, I was using overdraft limits and credit cards. Taking out loans to cover others and working exhaustively to cover all that damage.

It was because I wanted to be free that I submitted myselfto exhausting work,to have money and submit myselfto everything my bubble considered normal: expensive cars, clothes, and restaurants.

It's the obsession with strategies that blinds us to what's most important.

This happened because Iwas obsessed with the “success” strategies around me, instead of focusing on the real need for freedom. In the dictionary, freedom speaks of independence and non-submission. The strategies I was choosing were taking me against that.

And one does not live by freedom alone. We need belonging, acceptance, attention, affection… so it's common for us to follow the herd effect, reproducing choices and behaviors to be part of something bigger, without even realizing that this is precisely what disconnects us.

You do need comfort. But it's the comfort of the fancy car today that can take away the comfort of a better mattress, of greater comfort during vacations, or worse: take away the minimum comfort you'll need in your old age, when you can no longer work.

I saw my father lose everything, to the point of needing donations to eat. At that same time, I was in debt. And his situation desperate me. If he, coming from a wealthy family, was like that, imagine me. Sometimes fear paralyzes, but in this case, it moved me. I hired a financial advisor, not because I was a visionary, but becauseI didn't trust my ability to manage my own money. Just earning more wouldn't help, if I kept behaving irresponsibly.

And it's a good thing I made that decision 12 years ago. Today's Rubia thanks 2010's Rubia every day. Today I am freer. I don't know what challenges you or someone you love are going through. But I'd like to invite you to list the strategies you've chosen and understand if they bring you closer to or further away from what matters most: your present and future self.

Thank you very much and see you next week!