Gina and I recently went and had lunch with a friend who is moving to a base in Korea. We are quite impressed at her dedication in service spending most waking hours involved in some fashion or another with the Air Force. While I love my job and often put in extra hours, I don't understand how someone can get so wrapped up in their job. Even the best of jobs, like professional fisherman or professional golfer and the like can get old--in my eyes--'cause it's the same old thing. Over and over and over and over and over and over. To me, it's still a form of a cage, a form of enslavement. Ah, but yes, I understand it's necessary and it's the responsible thing to do. I've always enjoyed making sure my family is taen care of. It brings me pleasure. But, it's getting to the point now where I can let my family start to take care of themselves. I'm speaking of children primarily. They are involved in their own lives more and more every day. This realization, along with some good decisions, have freed Gina and I to think about ourselves and what we desire most is the freedom of choice.
Ok, back to the point of lunch. As our friend spoke of her near future, I couldn't help but ask her what she wanted most. I mentioned that her Air Force career will be ending pretty soon and her daughter is in college and wondered what she had in mind for her not-so-distant future. What would she do then? Her response was full of "maybe" and anyone could tell she hadn't given it much thought. Eventually, she asked what Gina and I had planned. We told her we're retiring fully in a little over two years and that we'd like to travel. Her response was what prompted todays blog. With a perplexed look on her face and in a tapering pitch of disbelief, she responded, "Really?"
I've heard this pitch and have seen these reactions before from other friends and family when we share our vision. Could it be:
1. They don't believe us. Not that we're lying, but that we just aren't aware of all that's required to do it. We just didn't think it through.
2. We're talking out of our backside. Hey, people do it all the time and don't follow through. It's part of our culture to deceive and lie. Even if only an emblishment or a "white lie", it's still an untruth and therefore a lie. I don't know why we do it, but everyone does it.
3. You can't live without a job. Maybe they're a "slave to the grind" and can't picture the possibility. It's just not right to not work. What would you do? Our response is, "Anything we want." when asked directly. And, we have been asked directly believe it or not.
4. If you're not working, you're free-loading. Maybe we're nursing at the tit of society. Uh, have you looked around? There's enough of that going on under the cover of many an excuse.
5. They're jealous. Cause they haven't thought of it. Cause they haven't prepared. Cause life has been hard on them and we lucked into ours??
6. They're curious. They want to know more. They want to learn from our lessons. They want it too.
I'm sure there's more, but it really surprises me that even the well-off don't want the freedom. In these thoughts, I've found the biggest issue of all: Most parents do not raise their children for success. They raise them to be nice, go to school, get a good job, and have a family. But it doesn't go much past that FOR MOST. What parents should pound into their kids heads is: focus, 4+ college, good-paying job, invest 20% from every check, barrow little, no/minimal debt (especially credit cards), and then family.
I realized most of this late in life as I wasn't taught this road to success, but here's what I try to teach my kids:
1. At 18, you're on your own. You must be able to take care of yourself. Sound cold? Not if you think about it. Without fear/realization which drives action, kids will not take action most of the time. I am trying to motivate them. In-other-words, it DOESN'T HAPPEN unless you make it happen. And, what happens if something happens to us, your parents? I see so many kids learning the ropes and taking the bumps well after the age of 18. Parents, you're not teaching properly.
2. If you want to dig ditches and slave in the hot sun, then don't worry to much about school past high school. I take every example I can to show them how this person or that person works their butts off for minimal $$ and how hard their life may be. Sure, part of their lives are full of happiness, but their options are limited. The point here is that if you want an easier life with less labor, less health issues, and more $$, then you must attend college and now-a-days that means more than 4 years.
3. Money IS NOT evil. It's the medium of survival. It's a good thing to have! Pick careers that pay well. If you pick for "love" and it's not paying much, you live with that choice and ALL it entails. A job is a means to an end. I promise, you won't be miserable as the old addage goes "I'd rather do something I love that doesn't pay well intead..." Hooey.
4. You should save/invest $$ just as soon as you have a job. To do so responsibly requires the knowledge of budgeting your income. Make it work for you cause if you don't, it will work against you. Every other commercial talks about how irresponsible everyone is not to mention the news. Compound interest in your favor (earnings) is flat out AWESOME. When you have money saved, your whole world looks soooooooooooooo much better.
5. Set a goal for what you want in the future. Break the primary goal into smaller achievable goals. It's these goals that direct you and help to keep your focus. Review often. If you've prepared properly, you should be able to do WHAT YOU WANT in life at a much earlier age and in time to enjoy it before OLD AGE starts kicking your ass.
We'll see if I did worth a damn before too long. Kids today? They just don't get it 'cause parents aren't teaching them! Well, these are my thoughts for today. Felt the need to share them in cyber-space. Enjoy!
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