Aren't We All Created Equal?

Its been said before that all men are created equal but we've created a world where hierarchy exists. If there's an hierarchy, can a man still be considered equal to another?

Everywhere you look, there's a ladder with someone at the top bumping his chest showing the world that he's all that and a bag of chips.
We have create money to figure out who among us contributes the most to society. We have trophies that rewards the fastest, the best teams or the smartest individuals. We keep track of people that can put "the most cigarettes in their mouth", who are the "fattest" or who "sleeps the most" in the book of Guinness World Records.
When the Titanic sank, recovering the bodies of the wealthy took precedent over those that weren't wealthy.

Everywhere you look there's someone that wants to show the world that there's something special about him.

Essentially, we are all equal: We are all equally flawed as we've created a world where our worth is defined by how much better we are compared to others.
Most definition of success is to be "at the top" of something and you're considered a failure if you are at the bottom.

There's nothing wrong with being at the bottom and you are not a failure, as a human being, for being there.

The most annoying thing about this hierarchy is that it is forced unto us. Being a human on this planet means that we are part of it - we don't yet know how to live without, or beyond, it.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what society tells you. Winning is primarily an inside job before it is an outside one. True success is being at peace with yourself.

A Runner's "High"

According to Scientific America , "a Runner's High is a feeling of euphoria coupled with reduced anxiety and a lessened ability to feel pain."
I'm not the biggest runner around. When I do cardio, i'm usually only on it for 30 minutes in order to put a "check in the box" and call it a day. In other words, I don't care for it that much but I have experienced a Runner's High and totally understand why some of you like to run that much.

What did it do to me?
I'm a pretty anxious person and that reduced anxiety, mentioned above, was definitely felt. It's almost like the clouds in my mind had gone and I could think clearly for the first time in a while. As a kid, I would get that feeling while playing soccer but never really paid attention to it.
The feeling started to fade roughly an hour after the workout. As I write these words, it's been roughly 8 hours since I was at the gym and only have distant memories of how it felt.
I remember feeling like that as a kid while I was playing soccer but I never really paid attention to it until today. As we get older, we get less and less of those euphoria moments because life doesn't really push us to move all that much.
But I get it.

I "get" why some of you crazy folks are running for hours on end. You guys are chasing the feeling.

How Mature are your Finances?

Budgeting, saving, investing can be difficult to some. Personal finances is almost as important as a family member and it needs a higher degree of attention than what most people are currently doing. In this blog, I will compare finance to the 3 stages of human life.

• As a Baby - This is where your personal finance is the most vulnerable. Money is your master - the slightest life mishap can derail your life significantly. As a baby, your personal finance needs to be nurture and taken care of. This means that you have to make sure that a big chuck of your money goes towards your savings and paying off debts. This is when you start figuring out a budget that works for you.
• As a Teen - As a teen, you personal finance is starting to be comfortable. You have savings, your debt is reduced to a minimum and you started looking at insurance to protect what you've accumulated. Unlike the baby phase, if you were to loose your job at this point you could go a few months before needing another one.
• As an Adult - Money is your slave. Your personal finance is matured to the point that you no longer need to check on it every second day. Some of your money has been invested and is working for you. Your budget is optimized. If you were to loose your job at this stage, you have other avenues that generates money for you. You could take a job that pays you less and still have a comfortable lifestyle or you could retire altogether. You have insurances to protect your assets.

The finance of most people never really leaves the baby phase. Some are able to reach their teens but only a few is ever going to reach adulthood. Which stage do you identify your finance?