I'm not a wealthy man, certainly not if you count wealth in terms of money anyway. Do I have a great life, the material things I need, the opportunity to engage in hobbies, to travel and experience things and a wonderful partner to share them with? Yes, I sure do. Do I have a mindset that permits me to drive forward towards the design and creation of the life I want to live, the best version of it? Yes again, I surely do...And so maybe those things constitute wealth of a fashion, however do I have an abundance of money...No.
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I work at a job, a role I'm great at, and with a company that is strong and healthy, at least as far as I know. I'm paid for my efforts, and of course lack of effort as well, and whilst my main income (my salary) is set, I have the ability to add to it through bonus payments by making an annual budget which I smash every year.
My wife and I also own a business which she has run over the last 27 years quite successfully. We go ok. It's a healthy living and a healthy life, and my wife and I get to smile a lot.
So, what prompted this post? Well, a post by @glenalbrethsen which you can read here and some recent discussions I've had with my brother 
You see, I don't rely on steem to go anywhere in respect of my future wellbeing or financial security. I have [hopefully] furnished my future financial security through the hard work, effort, smart decisions and by going without in the past, and the present, to some degree at least. But having said that, wouldn't it be nice to have a little nest egg of crypto, just a few million, to offer me a little bit more security, the ability to experience more and maybe help a few deserving people along the way? I think the answer has to be yes right?
I was having a chat with a friend of mine yesterday and I mentioned wanting to retire. I'm 49 years old and cannot do so just yet however I plan to do so prior to the designated retirement age in my country. They shook up the rules a while back so it's a bit complex however my retirement age, the age I can access the aged pension, is about 67. I could retire early of course, which is the plan, as long as I'm self-funded.
Anyway, I mentioned the R word to my mate and his reaction was interesting. He said, retiring means an early grave. "Why retire and wait to die," were his exact words. Hmm...Whilst I get it, some do in fact do so, but could my mate have so little in his life currently that not working would rob him of all will to live? The system surely has him brainwashed I guess. Better him than me I suppose.
You see, for me, work gets in my way, in the way of my life and what I want to do, however since losing a large seven figure sum to a dodgy business partner in 2013/14 I have to work to provide for a retirement that would have actually happened by now had that event not taken place. Work certainly doesn't provide any emotional-life-enjoyment or satisfaction for me though. How could it considering all the awesome things my life holds outside of my work scenario? Work is a means to an end only for me and I'd rather be doing anything than working at my job.
I have amazing hobbies that I fit into my life, and 3 or 4 more waiting for the time for me to engage with them as well! I travel a lot, but nowhere near as much as I would if I was retired and there's all those books I want to read, that fifth language I want to learn, that volunteer work I want to do with returned soldiers with PTSD I could expend upon and then all the things my wife and I want to do as a couple and those things I want to support her in...Does it sound like I'd be sitting around waiting to die?
I'll give you an example. I shoot guns. A lot. Lets say 5-8 hours a week. I also am a key-component on the organisational team for a large shooting event we run 4-5 times a year...Another 2-3 hours a week, and then the time spent reloading [making ammunition] working on guns and equipment, speaking on shooting podcasts, attending gun shows and competing at competitive events...I reckon some 13-16 hours of every week of the year is spent just on that one hobby on average and if I was retired that would ramp up to 1-2 days. That's one hobby.
I don't understand the retirement is waiting to die ethos. Sure, I know many use work as their social outlet and main interest in life which I think is a little sad. For me retirement from work doesn't constitute retirement from life and I can only feel sad for those who think those things are one and the same.
Articles like Glen's above, ideas like that and other's, are critical to the future of steem and we should all be here working together to ensure that future is profitable for everyone. Like Glen so nicely quotes in his post above:
We're the first step, not the end all of everything.
Anyway, this post is a little wayward in that it spans a few different topics. It wasn't meant to but that's just how it came out.
I'm not the only one with an amazing life full of enjoyable things and experiences...We all are. Well, at least, we all are capable of that. There's more to life than retiring in one's 50's or 60's after a life spent nose-to-grindstone only to wait for the blessed release of death. Death isn't blessed...It's fucked. All of this, everything you see and feel around you ends. Better that we live it now, design and create it and work towards a better future. This is an opportunity we all have right now and this is the opportunity we should all be embracing, individually in our own lives and collectively in respect of steem.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
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