I just saw my next tuition for my Master is due end of November and I wondered why this is so expensive. Shouldn’t education be free? I don’t want to get off on a tangent here but someone asked me the other day what my philosophy on money is or on a broader perspective – what is happiness? Let’s dive right in, I would say. I responded: “Oh, that’s easy!” But then I was stuck. It is not really that easy. I went for a walk to think about it. Walking helps me to straighten things out in my mind but still, I did not come up with a satisfying answer. Then, after a while, I realized that the question was wrong. I have a bunch of quotes that I love and whenever I stumble upon one that is especially good, I write it down in a journal. “Invert, always invert”, said Carl Jacobi and I think this is so true. I interpret it that some problems must be solved backwards and by trying to think about solutions. And honestly, this money-questions made me want to tell the person that it is really NOT the goal in life. Isn’t money just a facilitator? Okay, we can buy nice things, but once we have them they usually become arbitrary. So what are my goals in life? Let’s get galvanized. Read on.
Number one goal for me in life would be health because without it, nothing else really matters. Also, to surround myself with the best people out there who challenge me, love me the way I am, respect me and make me a better person. Another goal would be to be out in nature as much as possible but also spend time at the library (not “berry – you cannot pick berries there) to have mental stimulation.
I want to explore the world, different cultures, different languages, different food and whatnot to open and broaden my horizon. I want to increase my knowledge by thinking, reading and talking and have communications about it all. I don’t want to hide and just read on the couch even though that sounds awesome, too. I want to exchange knowledge – have artistic intercourse if you will.
Do you see a pattern here? Most of these things are free. Of course, one can say that nothing is free in life, and I do have to purchase the plane ticket to fly to Vietnam, Germany or Australia but there is always a way to figure those things out if I really want to go there. The same goes for books. I stopped shopping at certain big bookstores and rather spent my money on used books or in independent bookstores. So much more fun, cheaper and the main focus is “the book” which it should be. It is just salient to realize that all those expenses are just so tiny when you take the bigger picture into consideration.
Time is precious! Time is important Besides health, I reckon that time is the most valuable asset we have. Don’t we always say that we need more time to do X, Y and Z? “If I only had more time I would write you an email but I have been sooooo busy!” (Truth about this is, you ALWAYS have time to do what you want. You just don’t want to write that email!) Sometimes I wish there could be more time to read more books! There are just so many out there that I never even heard of. Well, maybe this is positive too.
What can we do to have more time? Sleep less? I am up fairly late every night which is not a good idea and I am working on getting more sleep. Sleep is important! How about minimizing the time to work for money? I have an easy life these days because I “just study” and don’t work. However, I earned my own money since I was 17 years-old and it is nice to be financially independent. I know what work is! I am also not talking about “working less” but to “stress less” about work. Life is beautiful and we should enjoy every single second of it. How much money do we really need? Which brings me back to the question I had mentioned in the beginning of this post. “What is your philosophy on money?” and I just change it to “What’s your philosophy of life?” “What do you really want?”
I read the amazing book “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau about ten years ago or so but many quotes from it stick with me for many reasons.
I believe that Thoreau was definitely ahead of his time as far as financial planning and simple living goes. His wisdom is rather timeless, this is why I do reread certain passages from time to time. Here are some of my favorite quotes that speak for themselves.
“The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
“As with our colleges, so with a hundred ‘modern improvements’ there is an illusion about them; there is not always a positive advance… our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.”
“I intend to build me a house which will surpass any on the main street in Concord in grandeur and luxury, as soon as it pleases me as much and will cost me no more than my present one.”
“A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.”
“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.”
“All news… is gossip, and they who edit and read it are old women over their tea.” (No bias against old women or tea here) 🙂
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Life is this awesome journey. We meet new people every day and learn something from each and every single one of them. I love to go to bed at night and be content because I learnt something new today or I made someone happy. Or I am just a better person than when I woke up this morning. Almost in a dramatic, visceral way like, if I fall asleep tonight and won’t wake up tomorrow, it was a good life. I want to be a positive person to myself, my son and others on a daily basis.
My goal and dream is to minimize the number of years that I have to work for money, live modestly and enjoy a certain type of lifestyle that is good for me. Many people tell me that I am very fortunate and I know I am. But thanks for the daily reminder in case I ever forget. Sometimes life seems like living in a fairy tale because I choose not to sleepwalk through it.
