Monthly Archives: May 2019

FIRE.083 Do You See Outside the Headlights?

Do you live each day with enjoyment?  Do the events that unfold throughout the day add to your satisfaction?     [please say yes]

We have a family member who is getting older and lives each day with enjoyment, excitement, and passion.  That is so much of what we all want in our own lives.  The hard part of this story is that most of their thoughts are in those daily moments.  The past activities are not as bright and visible.

Senior Moments:

As we age, we all have some brain connections that slip or miss.  These often have been referred to as “senior moments.”  That makes sense as they happen more frequently as we get older.  They can be simple things like you can’t quite remember the name of a business or exact location.  At first, it seems the reason you can’t recall the information is that you didn’t pay full attention at the time of the action or other things have come up since that activity.  Yes, that is true, but it’s also because our brain synapses’ just aren’t firing and connecting quite as well as they used to in processing information.

Headlight Range:

The analogy I envision is to think about driving at night on a quiet country road.  What you’re concentrating on is the activity right in front of you.  Sure, you can also see a little way up the road with some headlight glare.  But just outside those bright lights, the view somewhat darker.  The activities are right there, just outside the brightness, but they are hard to make out clearly.

Think about looking in your rearview mirror.  Immediately behind your car may be visible, or somewhat visible because your taillights give some light, but farther back, it can be very dark and hard to recognize.

If there are streetlights, business lights/signs, highway signs, other car headlights, those will help you see outside your own headlight area.  I feel like those helping lights are people around you who are with you and possibly assisting you.

My question, is living within the headlight visibility area OK?  Sure, if you see the brightness is the day, in the activities.  If you concentrate on those areas that are dark, then you may not feel as positive about your life journey.

Enjoy Each Day:

Whatever we do in life, I really believe finding the positive and enjoying your day—whatever’s in your visual/visible range—may be the most important thing we can do for ourselves and others.

If possible, strengthen your own shining light with exercise, diet, social interactions, whatever it may take.  One morning we will all not see the morning light, so enjoy each day!

*** 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.

FIRE.082 We PASSED the Joneses today

I was thinking about this whole “keeping up with the Joneses” thing the other “WE-day” when my wife and I were driving on the freeway at 11a and drove past dozens and dozens of office parks with smallish businesses.  When driving past these businesses, I always think about how half of the people in the US are employed by smallish businesses, nearly all of which we’ve never heard of.  I’ve always had the tendency to think large Mega-Corps were the big employers but that’s a fallacy according to the statistics.  

As we drove by, I thought about the employers, and then I thought about the employees.  I realized many of these employees follow the weekly grind of wake, prep, drive work, drive, evening time, sleep, repeat.

Grinding Pressures:

I wondered about the pressures causing their personal push into the weekly grind, or worse, the 9-to5-to-65 grind.

I wondered if their push related to the newer cars in the parking lots.  I wondered about their homes and the niceties they may have.  I wondered if they need to take large amazing vacations to decompress from the weekly grind. 

Upper Frugal

I mentally compared our older used vehicles and the starter home we’ve lived in for almost 30 years to the Joneses lifestyle.   Were we missing out on such niceties?  Or, do we secretly possess the ultimate (in our minds) luxury of daily time, instead of a luxury temporary vacation?

We were lucky today.  We were out-and-about enjoying a special time together during the middle of the week, middle of the day—truly living off-peak.

UPDATE:   I was sitting in the dentist waiting area and noticed everyone seemed to be enjoying their (working) day.  I wondered, what percentage of people enjoy their working day.

In re-reading this post, I admit that I’m biased to think that the lifestyle we chose. and live. is preferential to us specifically.  Our choices are not the best choice for most people.  No, not at all.  As I’ve stated before, I’m just sharing my thoughts about our path and journey in life up to this point.

Everyone’s mileage may vary.  Please do one this…enjoy each day.

*** 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.