Our Perfect Lie
What will you be when you grow up?
A question that irritates me is when people ask kids "what do you want to be when you grow up"? I understand this is a simple way to connect with a child and get them talking, but underneath it perpetuates the story that our lives are defined by our jobs. Or that we can't start doing what we love until we are "grown up".
Let's expand this thought with an example. Take a little girl who was asked that question and fast forward 20 years after she has finished college and starts her first job. She tells herself, "I am finally grown up!", and "I need to look grown up". "I need nice clothes, a car, and an apartment!"
She is then told to put in long, hard hours so that she can rise up in the company. This is another misdirection by society. She tells herself that she is not truly happy until she gets to manager or VP level. But when she gets there, her marriage is falling apart, and her kids feel closer to the nanny than her. At this point 50% of Americans will get divorced and put more time at work because it is the only thing we can control. In the end, she retires at 72 and her role is quickly filled in less than a week. Now she has failing health and is useless to the working world. She spent little time preparing her finances for retirement, so she needs to move out of her nice house and into a less expensive home outside of her community. This new isolation makes her lonely. She is left thinking, "is this what I wanted to be when I grew up?"
This may be a stark and simplified review of the "average" life in America, but the main point of the summary - is that many of us waste our most precious resource, time! We wasted time when we are a kid, just waiting to be grown up, or we wasted time when we over-worked, not enjoying ourselves with our family. Society tells us a perfect lie about spending our time at work to suit... society, not us!
However there is a different path to take. A path that does not entail a work life that devours one’s time year after year. It seems untrue, these things I say because you have been told a completely different story your whole life. But it can be true. Come with me on my families' journey to FIWO. (Financially Independence, Work Optional). Just like training for a marathon, one should train every day to keep our personal budgets in balance.
Happy Living
Hi! Welcome to my blog. This is an account of my journey to FIWO (financially independent, work optional) and tips and hacks I have learned to get me there faster. If you just joined me, please start from the first post on this journey: Is a Life Without a 9-5 Job Possible for me?
Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash
