Does this image mean anything to you? It certainly did to me - just a few years ago. It sums up beautifully how I felt. There I was, working full time for a local I.T. firm, whilst simultaneously trying to build up my own business. I was a member of the Rat Race, yet there were a few unique people around me who were wealthy enough to declare themselves free of such a title. They told me that the key to happiness was to work harder... and I believed them.

And before you know it you're staring happiness in the face!

I personally lived unhappily for many years using these arguments. "Next year everything will be alright" I told myself.

Looking back, I now see that the route to happiness does not involve any of the things above. No money, no cars, no miserable jobs that bore the pants off you. No, all it involves is yourself. Participation in the Rat Race is purely optional. If you feel you are looking for happiness, it's a lot closer to hand than many people believe. Look inside yourself and ask, "What would I do today if I only had a month left to live?" Then do it.

Credit (and therefore by definition, debt) is central to the whole Rat Race issue, and nowadays people find themselves under its shadow even before they have left university. It is truly horrifying to see how eager the credit card companies are to sign up undergraduate students who, finding themselves presented with a £1000 credit limit (and 0% interest for 6 months!) go out and spend... only to find that once they are finished with uni, they have to pay these debts... with what? In order to do that, they need a decent job with career prospects.

They get that great graduate job, and start paying back their student loan and credit cards etc. However, as their salary increases over the years, so does their credit limit, and so does their spending. They simply spend whatever disposable income they have as this is what they have been conditioned to do in today's consumerist society. Got a pay rise? Oooh, now I can afford the deposit on that new car, I'll pay the remainder through that monthly payment scheme (with an interest rate that adds an extra 50% to the price of the car)...

It's downhill from here on. Along comes the mortgage.. Along come the children. Along comes the bigger house - and with it increasing expenses, met by taking out loans and remortgaging.

I have been down this road (ok, so I didn't go so far as having children!!) I ended up £18,000 in debt at the age of 25. For me, the best way out was bankruptcy. The debt was written off, and I was given a second chance.

I'll never get credit again (well, at least not for 7 years!), but that doesn't worry me in the slightest. If you haven't got it, you don't spend it. I am now free, and I will never surrender that freedom to a financial institute again. I remember those years I spent WORKING FOR MONEY, and they were truly depressing. Life should never revolve around money - Money is but a tool to make our lives easier.

For some it is a comfort to feel that freedom is unreachable, for freedom brings many challenges and much decision making. It is far simpler to hand over control of your life to a system that has been created by society for society.

Let those who wish to participate in in it do so, but never be tempted yourself to complain that you have no choice. I used to think that that was the case, but since I realised that I have the option to be free, happiness has ceased to be around the corner - it's hit me slap bang in the face and there's not a rat in sight.

For a superb visual overview of the 'The Rat Race',
click here to watch Alan Watts' "Life and Music"