Spending time with myself a lot in the last week, or at least not knowing anyone while in a queue or on a bus full of strangers, I've come to the realization that I really, really like my life right now. I'm in a great relationship, I'm doing things with my spare time that I enjoy, and aside from there not being enough hours in the day, most of the time I'm fairly content.
That said, some of the joy comes from a great deal of freedom to pretty much do whatever the hell I want, and that comes from having the financial resources to do so. I can feed my gadget addiction, eat out whenever, and best of all, travel quite a bit. The gadgets I suppose aren't that important, but the travel and eating, that sure is. Plus I can bank a fair amount of money, I'm not over-extended with a huge mortgage, and I'm (relatively speaking) debt free. Ultimately this frees you to spend more time thinking about things far more important, like your relationships, health, etc. More on that security factor in a minute.
I have a lot of younger friends, many of whom are still navigating their first career choices or buying their first piece of real estate or having their first (or second) kid, or whatever. I tend to give them a lot of advice too (though I ain't know nothin' 'bout burfin' no baby!). I find that they have a lot of fear over monetary security issues in that stage of their life, which is no different than what I had at that point too. I'll never forget the fear and self-esteem meltdown I had in 2001 when I got laid-off. But the advice I give always goes something like, "You're smart enough to figure it out, even if things go horribly wrong, and you'll come out OK in the long run."
So what does that have to do with me and my happy life? Well, I wonder if all that flexibility that comes with solid and predictable income makes me incapable of seeing what could be if I did something different. Could I give up the stability to try something more radical that might make me happier in more meaningful ways?
I've always been risk averse in certain things, to the point of it being a flaw. I didn't kiss a girl until my senior year of high school because I was scared of the "risk" of being rejected. Yet, I quit an overpaid consulting gig to write a book that might not make much money. I'm not very good at assessing risk, or accepting the assessment if it's obvious. Like, right now I could quit my job to build a log cabin or something, and if it didn't work out, I could just take those recruiter calls I still get every week. The chance of them not coming anymore isn't a big risk right now.
With one of the long-time peeps at work resigning this week, it got me to thinking about how you can get comfortable and not look at the possibilities. I don't think I'm in that boat, at least not right now. But I suppose checking in with yourself from time to time is a good practice to follow, putting aside the comfort and security you might feel. This job is now in second place for longest job held, and I admit it still feels a little weird!
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