Impulsive Manifesto

How spontaneous decisions will turn your life and blow your mind

At 16 years old I was looking at myself in the mirror wondering when my beard would fully grow. I’m born and raised in Saudi Arabia so it’s a pretty big deal there to go to your all-males school and show off your facial trophy. Nobody talks about or mention it but it’s very clear in everyone’s little dark eyes that there is a genetic competition going on. I didn’t know what western teenagers were up to and what occupied their minds at the time. But right here, that is how you flex and earn respect in school.

In Saudi Arabia, people usually have their life planned the moment they are born. For a typical middle-class male, your lifegoals list is filled with standard requirements you have to fulfill to satisfy your family and your religion. This list generally looks something like:

· Learn your values, manners, and religion

· Finish school

· Finish university

· Get a good job that can support your future spouse and kids

· Get a good car

· Get married

· And finally, get a house.

Most people are happy with this list or don’t mind it so I would say that it’s a successful set of social expectations, although not very economical but the oil helped a lot. This list applied to me as well and for a long time I used to see it as my path and ambitions. Whenever I saw the pop culture on TV I tend to compare our values and the differences in the way we live. There are traits and flaws in both cultures but I never thought about living in any other way than the traditional one because it would break many of the expectations.

At 18 years old I had already graduated high school and applied for the best University in Saudi Arabia (KFUPM) as an engineer, following expectations like a good boy, but I didn’t get in. It turned out that I was only 1% away from being accepted so I had to look for other Universities and apply there. My father of course was not happy about that since he wanted me to go to the same university as he did. How can you brag about your son if he is not in the top Uni of the country? But I realized later that the rejection from KFUPM was one of the best thing that happened to me.

At that time, the King was offering full scholarships to go abroad to any country and get a degree from any university there. Most people chose to go to the U.S. or the U.K. because it was easier to learn English than another language. At first, I didn’t want to leave the country. But after half of my friends left on scholarships I decided to just try it. I did not think much about it or how I would be living in the next coming years. I just simply thought to try it and see where it would take me. The only image I had in my mind is a warm cup of coffee on a rainy day. I don’t know where I got that image in my head, I didn’t even like coffee at the time. But that was all I could imagine of going abroad.

So I picked England and I tried to apply there but the scholarship didn’t sponsor anymore students who would choose the U.K. due to influx of Saudi students there. So I turned my head across the pond and went to study in the U.S. instead. That was 2012 and the image of the coffee in a rainy day was still there of course.

While living in the States my mind opened up a lot and I became very tolerant to try new things. I was aware that I could never follow that traditional list and just do what is expected anymore. I met so many people from all over the world and learned about many different cultures. I discovered that there are many experiences and aspects of life I want to try. So in 2014, as the heat of the world cup was getting close, I asked myself how it would be if I would go to Brazil and attend this global event. I didn’t really plan anything and in fact, I’m very good at it. One day I looked at the prices of tickets and later on that day I had a ticket to the world cup in Brazil. I was really over whelmed. But I didn’t plan the trip there at all. I didn’t buy the flight nor I have applied for a visa or even knew how. All I had was the ticket staring at me. Eventually I went there and had one of the best experiences in my life.

The next year, while having my nostalgia of Brazil, I was in San Jose finishing my semester and preparing for a long summer. I had nothing to do nor did I know what I should do. So while I was writing a paper for school and having a cup of coffee by the window at one of the largest coffee chains in the world, it started to rain suddenly. I looked from the glass window at the wet streets outside and got a little spark inside that I would call my sense of adventure. The next day I got a strong urge to learn Spanish. So I booked a ticket to Spain and payed for the school. I spent 3 months learning Spanish and living in Barcelona.

The way I funded my trips and classes was all from the scholarship. They included a monthly stipend to students so I saved up money and spent it on spontaneous decisions like Brazil and Spain and more examples like these. I have grown a lot from these experiences and could’ve easily missed the opportunity to do them if I always stick to a plan and never try something different. So I don’t know what the image of a coffee mug in a rainy day means exactly but it helps me remember my love to the sense of adventure and unpredictability. The crazy moments we could experience are always overshadowed by our plan and what we need to do. But what we owe ourselves is to have a chance to live outside our comfort zone and explore our potentials.

In the end, the list of expectations that you inherit is not necessarily a bad list. it is just that we have more potential than just following expectations or perusing a career in one aspect of life and staying in that field forever.

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