It’s been almost 29 years since a violent, life threatening event impacted my life. I was young, about 28 years old, and single. It was an event that made me contemplate the meaning of life. I read several books, mainly philosophers, to help answer my questions.
Reprioritization of what was important to me was one of a few outcomes during that period. In the end, I changed jobs (didn’t want regrets), got married, and had kids. Because that’s the direction I wanted in my life at the time. This was a signature moment that brought about change.
Why is this important and why am I writing about it now? Because we are in another historical moment if everyone’s life …. COVID-19. I see people around me making all kinds of change because they are struggling to handle the event. Unfortunately, I see many people buying RV’s, selling their homes, selling stocks, and saying “YOLO” (you only live once).
We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth of our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good.
Carl Sagan
I’ve counseled a few people lately and my main approach has been to slow down their thinking. I want people to reflect before they make any significant decisions. Is their decision emotional, logical, or part of a plan? Regardless of the answer, I want them think.
Let’s Think Big Picture
Before we move forward, I’m going to assume you have food, water, and shelter available in your life. Because if you don’t, stop reading this article now and secure those immediately. You probably have bigger problems than anything I’ve already written or am about to write.
Decisions made in moments of stress (i.e. COVID-19) have consequences. It’s in these decisions that separate successful from unsuccessful people. Usually, we put too much stress on ourselves because we think our “decision” is monumental.
But my life is nothing in the fabric of time. Sure, my life is important to me but it means nothing in the universe. Let’s say I live to be 100 years old. Those 100 years on this planet just are not that important. Modern humans have been around for 200,000 years and our ancestors about 6,000,000 years. We need perspective, which can calm us down and help us make rational decisions.
We are just a speck, on a speck, orbiting a speck, in the middle of nowhere.
Bill Nye
In August, I wrote an article titled FOMO on Life to help describe why I’m retiring at 62. That article was written in the same construct that I’m just small potatoes in the big scheme of things. That I can control my decisions, how much I save, my expenses, and even when I want to retire.
As long as I’ve got food, water, and shelter (and maybe a few clothes) then I’ll be ok. I want to make a difference in the rest of my life and that doesn’t mean I should be working in Corporate America.
Retirement Planning Ramifications?
Next week, the presidential election comes to a vote and there is fear in the air. Expensive NY condo owners are hiring off duty cops with sub-machine guns to keep bad guys out of their building. That is some serious fear, especially by what I would presume is people that don’t believe in gun ownership.
Half of this country wants their person to be president and the other half wants their person chosen. Either way, half this country won’t be happy. I’ve got faith that regardless of who is chosen that we’ll be just fine. There might be some changes but we’ll be fine.
How I react to this election, stock market volatility, or COVDID-19 will impact my wealth. And my net worth, investment portfolio size, and amount of debt have been built on years of good and bad decisions. Those decisions have been influenced by other presidential elections, wars, riots, and many other national events.
I bring all this up because I don’t want us to panic or make rash decisions based on current events. Create your plan, adjust it periodically, but execute that plan regardless of what’s happening around you.
Save money, reduce debt, control expenses, and stay invested. It sounds so easy but we let our emotions get in the way. And we have lots of emotions right now. Heck, I can feel the shallow breathing in my chest right now based on the national stress level.
Conclusion
I’m not sure there is an actual “conclusion” to this article but I’ll try my best to bring some closure. Our lives are nothing in the fabric of time so stop worrying about every decision we make or every event around you will end all of humanity. Individually, we just aren’t that important so stop carrying the weight of that world on your shoulders.
And for goodness sakes, don’t let the stress of the world events around us interrupt the plan you’re executing. The events were there in the past and people survived. The events are still here today and they’ll be there in the future too. So let’s stop worrying about them and just focus on executing our plan.
Focus on living your life. Retire early if you can or desire. Enjoy the time with the people around you and be happy. Very few humans are remembered for an eternity so stop trying to be one. My 90-100 years (God willing) on this earth should be focused on creating the best current life and not letting negativity in the media, politics, or anything else stop us from enjoying the life we’ve been given.
So, why did I write this article? I suppose I needed to reassure myself that regardless of who wins next week’s presidential election or how long the virus lasts or if the climate will be destroyed tomorrow that I’ll be ok today. I’m not being oblivious to what is happening around me but I can’t control any of these events. Remember, our time on this earth is limited so don’t waste it worrying about what can’t be controlled.
Thanks for reading!
Mr. TLR