Both @deraaa and @liftslikealady challenged me to answer this question:
Every day, many people are becoming more and more obsessed with money and fame. There is a question many have thought about —
Would you trade 10 years of life for wealth and fame?
The funny thing is that I didn't realise at the time when I read @liftslikealady 's post that she was answering the LOH contest prompt. I must have been in La La land, cos I wrote my response as a comment to her post instead of creating a separate post 🤣
Anyway... here it is in most of it's glory with an addendum:
My husband is always saying that if we got to a point where our mortgage was paid off and we had enough coming in to cover basic expenses, he'd be happy to stop working altogether and start living more purposefully, spending time doing what he wants to do for himself and for us. So do the odd bit of contract work or open his own business instead of being tied to a company as a means to earn an income. Personally, I just can't see myself doing the same ol' same ol' for the next umpteen years either. Soul destroying. So at some point... change will come. I think if we all knew the number of years that we had remaining, the choices and decisions that we took would seem a lot easier. As for trading 10 years of my life... mmm you are asking an overthinker hehe... I would wonder whether perhaps my remaining days may be filled with good health til the day I no longer wake up, whether I would get to experience the joy and love of grandchildren, be around to be there longer for my own children... I certainly would not trade even a year of my life for fame... ugh... turn the spotlight somewhere else pleez hehe ... and I would not trade my time with my children either! Wealth? Wealth that would enable me to actually enjoy every living hour for myself and my kids by giving me back more time than I could possibly lose in sacrificing 10 years of existing time? Financial wealth that would enable me to provide my family with the true wealth of additional time together and the ability to help others less fortunate than myself... instead of spending a good portion of my time working for somebody else? mmm... that I just may go for... I guess it all depends on what you are actually sacrificing. If you are sacrificing 10 years of working long hours for somebody else just to have a couple of hours each evening with your family and a few weeks holiday together each year to create memories, and giving that up enabled you to stop working altogether, then the sacrifice in pure mathematical terms is something like 10 x 365 x 3hours true free time (after working, homework, cleaning, feeding, shopping, sleeping etc) = 10, 950 hours lost ... or if you were losing the last 10 years of your life, it would be lots of free hours potentially immobile...(?)... what would you gain in exchange... almost every waking hour I guess ... and a whole lot less stress which would almost certainly lead to a longer happier life.
Now all the above is certainly moot because the true answer is that nobody knows the future. There are no guarantees or crystal balls. If somebody came to me tomorrow and said here's a suitcase of financial wealth... but your life has just been cut short by 10 years if you take it...I actually think I'd run a mile. Because then my overthinking brain would not get a chance to engage! 🤣 But also because there's a really good piece of advice that my husband always gives out when people are sitting firmly on the fence of a big decision: do nothing! If you do not have enough information, insight, courage, or what have you to make the decision on your own, then do not change the status quo until you do. Just sit tight on top of that fence or if need be get back down from whence you came until you are comfortable making your decision.
It's more of a " don't upset the apple cart unnecessarily" kinda position to take, than a "fear of change" position. So if you are ready for the big decision and clear in your choice, go for it.... many great things have come to those with the courage of their convictions and the strength of character and belief to dive in. But, if you are not clear on your choices and your decision...if you are hesitant ...then why jump wildly into the unknown without a safety net when you don't even know if it is what you want??? Save risking it all for something important when you know what ALL and IMPORTANT truly do mean to you.
I invite @consciouscat to take part in the next challenge.