Somehow along the way I’ve become encircled with gratitude.
While I do take the moments after reaching my first-morning consciousness to take some breathes and appreciate my morning/day/life, I also have other gratitude times.
I know, I know, again with my “commute,” but when I’m sitting in my spa, or on my patio each—and every—morning and I hear the birds chirping, or even people hiking on the hills in the desert close by, I just feel relaxed. It helps that it’s often before 8am and most likely a weekday.
Take the time to do something(s) you love each and every day. You deserve it!
Lately, I’ve been asking myself a double question: if I could have anything, do anything, what would it be? Have you ever taken a few minutes to dream about anything? I’m not good at that. I am way too functional/tactical in life. I don’t really have an overly strategic, vision-planning mindset.
I tend to find a target and create a plan to reach/succeed in that goal. I know that’s a good trait to have. My wife tells me that I tend to strive to be a “fixer” and resolve issues. Maybe that’s how I was raised. I really don’t know any different. I just try to figure out how to streamline, maybe even optimize, the path towards completion. College was me aiming to earn 91% to lock in my “A” and then do whatever else I wanted with my remaining time.
The thought of thinking (dreaming) of an “anything” event is easy enough, yet I cannot find anything grand to complete the thought. Everything that I come up with is minor, or simply that I “have the greatest already” answer.
I should be clear that of course, I wouldn’t decline a beach house in Hermosa Beach CA or a private jet. Neither of which is required for life when I can substitute a similar option in my lifestyle.
I’m wondering if I’m asking these questions as I’ve aged into the second half of a century, or if it’s just because we have purposely been actively in MoJo mode.
I have purposely been on a (minorish) forced spending practice for the past year and a half. Once I stumbled into earning a small stipend doing some work while in FIRE, I decided to force myself to spend ALL of that playcheck money. I track this in a file on my computer to be sure I honor my spending commitment. I also picked some favorite spending categories to help steer me to meeting my goal. I chose: Health, Fitness, FIRE Lifestyle, and Tech. I have dozens of cool items I would have NEVER purchased. Many of these items are amazing and I should have MoJo’d them anyway, but I would not have spent on them.
Back to anything. When I struggle so much to spend my earned playcheck, how can I dream bigger, to an anything level? I’ve been taught to save money since I was 12 years old. I continued saving some of every single paycheck, check, garage sale cash, everything. How do I change gears? How much do I change? Do I just force a “fun bucket” strategy of $10k and go for it? Do we set aside $100k for the decade? Do we do hundreds of thousands of our life savings for living now in our GoGo years/MoJo decade?
I don’t even believe my inability is tied to the fear of running out of money before end-of-plan. I truly believe it’s a 40-year methodology/personality that requires changing. A small little black purchase of an Epiphone ’58 Goth Explorer that proves to me that some frivolous purchases may add ongoing wonderful enjoyment to your days.
I do want to say that I’ve been very—maybe very-very— supportive of my wife’s spending. Those who know me have seen her Shelby. That’s not at all something I would have done in the past. YOLO is 100% true (based on my understanding of the multiverse). I just want the Live/life part to remain fully funded and cautious.
Lots and lots of babble above, but that’s my point. It’s very hard (for me) to come up with a specific “anything.” I will continue to add amazingness to our lives. I will continue to make purchases. I will continue to strive for experiences and adventures. I will push to make each and every day enjoyable.
I will, without any question, do some of “my favorite things each day.” Did I mention the coaster vibrating off the subwoofer in my living room? I could FEEL my music. My iphone alerted me to an “unsafe noise volume” and exposure risk…one of my favorite things.
Do you ever stop and dream as big as you can? An Anything dream?
*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice. I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be. You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice. This post is not a piece of literary mastery, just a random thought I had.