What’s your best tip for budget travel?
First, the answer to this question depends on what is meant by ‘travel’. It would be easy to assume that we are speaking about going to distant lands for whatever reason, but let’s not jump to that conclusion, especially if our purpose is to discuss vacation travel.
Continue reading “Travelling Light”If the salary was the same, what job would you be doing right now and why?
I’ve always said that I’d rather have a lower paying job that I enjoy than a higher paying job for which I struggle to get out of bed.
The salary isn’t important. If you don’t like the job, or the people you’re working with, you’ll struggle to get up every morning and eventually the salary will not seem as important and you’ll lose it, anyway.
The reality is that most jobs pay a living wage by law. The real problem isn’t the salary; it’s what we do with the salary. When we overspend, we go looking for a high paying job that we don’t like. Far better to live within the means provided by a lower paying job that we enjoy.
One of the things I’ve learned since I’ve retired is that we waste stress on work. Once we leave, someone else takes over. And they could have taken over long ago if we had left sooner. We are not as irreplaceable as we’d like to think.
So, the salary isn’t the important thing. It’s more about enjoying the life you can afford than striving for the one you can’t.
How do you deal with uncertainty?
We cannot plan for everything. Therefore, we have to accept that life is uncertain.
Last week, I had my Thursday planned. On Wednesday night I ran over a triangular piece of brick while turning into my street. I heard the thud of air escaping. 100 yards farther along the street, as I parked outside my house, I could tell I had a flat tyre. It was dark, and late, and I went to bed.
Thursday morning, I could see that my plans for the day would have to be changed as I went to get the irreparable tyre replaced.
Was there any point in making a fuss? No. I had no choice but to spend the morning changing the wheel and waiting at the repair shop while my tyre was replaced. It wasn’t money I’d planned on spending. But what choice did I have?
So my son and I changed our plans and still enjoyed ourselves. Why?
Because we embraced the change; we embraced the uncertainty; and we got on with life. It was a challenge, but it was also an experience. It gave me the opportunity to show my son how to change a wheel, something I haven’t done since I can’t remember when. Now, although he hasn’t done the full job, he knows how the process works. It was a learning experience for my son, and an opportunity for me to practice equanimity.
We learned, and we enjoyed. No panic, no histrionics. Just enjoy end journey, embracing the uncertainty.
I have recently become fascinated by the number of people who believe that the world revolves around them.
I’m all for encouraging others to feel good about themselves, and I don’t disagree with trying to engender positivity. I like the concept of helping everyone to build self-esteem.
Yet it seems to me that the current “accept everything” model, together with the idea that it’s not right (not acceptable in a world that accepts everything?) to tell a child that they are in the wrong, is building a world full of selfish entitlement. It’s my way, or no way.
For example, you make arrangements to catch a specific train. That requires you to leave the house by a specific time so as to get to the station on time. Yet the attitude seems to be, “Well the train will just have to wait for me!”
I’m sorry, but when did your entitlement to be late overrule everyone else’s entitlement to be punctual?
Interestingly, such people will often make a major issue over your relaxed arrangements. This is a wonderful experience to behold.
“What time are we leaving?”
“After breakfast.”
“So what time is that?”
“Between 9.00 and 10.00.”
“Can’t you be more specific?”
“Not really. It depends on how long it takes everyone to get ready. But as long as we leave by 10.00 we’ll be fine.”
“So 10.00, then.”
“No. Between 9.00 and 10.00; when we are all ready. But definitely before 10.00 so that we miss the traffic.”
Then the fun starts. Breakfast over, you say:
“Is everyone ready to leave, then?”
“No. I have to get dressed”
“Go on, then. But don’t take too long. You have 15 minutes.”
Twenty minutes later, at 10.05 you go to check.
“Not dressed, yet? We’re going to be late and we’ll get caught in the traffic and miss the train.”
“Well, they’ll just have to wait for me, won’t they. You’ll just have to drive faster.”
And this person who was simply going to die unless you gave them a specific time now holds everything up, expecting everyone else’s life to revolve around him. (Or her.)
It’s one of the hazards of shielding children from the consequences of their actions, or covering for them, getting them out of trouble. They grow up feeling that they are the most important person in the world, and that leads to the same attitude as they age.
The reality is that we are not the most important persons in the world. The only way to be special is to treat everyone else as more special than you. But when we shield people, including children, from the consequences of their actions, we develop a thankless, heartless, entitled generation.
Next time you come across this attitude, whether in yourself or others, resolve, not to shield the perpetrator from the consequences, but to enforce those consequences with all your might. (As long as it’s safe to do so, of course!)
“Yes. I know you wanted to go to the park. And I know I said that we would go as soon as you’re dressed. But, look. The park gates are locked for the night because you took so long to get dressed.”
Be prepared, however, to suffer your own consequences:
“Well if you had told me to get dressed earlier we wouldn’t have been late!”
I know. It seems like you can’t win. But do this enough times and the message will start getting through.
Respect and dignity require mutual consideration, not insistence on our rights, regardless of the consequences to other people.
Are you a lifelong learner?
Short answer, Yes!
It would be easy to settle back after the years of schooling and simply drift through life relying on the knowledge we gained. Or would it?
Let’s face it, we all learn new things throughout our lives. Otherwise we would never manage. For many retired people that would mean still doing things the way we did them 50 years ago. And for most of us, that doesn’t happen.
But that’s not what this question is about, is it. This is about learning, not just new skills for everyday life like how to use a microwave, or a web-connected dishwasher. This is about new subjects. This is about new careers, even.
Continue reading “Being a Lifelong Learner”
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