Dear Readers:
Normally, we have “Sunday Morning Funnies” and then something about the latest religious bullshit on this day, but today we are going to change the pace a bit!
My friend Wayne sent this, and instead of a chuckle, I thought we would give you something to think about!
THE ONLY THING YOU SHOULDN’T KILL IS TIME .
W
Bear with me, I’d like to share some of my thinking as I was driving around today.
I met some friends while leaving a store and they asked me if retirement is really that good.
I replied, as I always do, with an emphatic “Yes.”
But as I drove away, I began thinking about that reaction and that I did not do them any real favors with that cute, worn out answer.
I realized that there is really much more to retirement than the quality of good or bad.
Retirement really involves a personal understanding and decision about the concept of wealth.
I’ve understood that in concept for some time, but today I wanted to be able to express it clearly.
So, much to the chagrin of those behind me, I spent a good deal of time musing about that while driving home from Kingston today,
During a fair amount of my working days I often thought about wealth and equated that with the amount of money I had or would like to have.
I worked hard and I saved as best I could. But, I also bought lotto tickets and raffles and tried schemes to get more and easy money.
I equated money with being able to do more things. Heck, I wanted to do everything.
The more money I had, the more I could do.
Man, how wrong I was.
When I began to seriously plan for retirement, I began to have the inkling that wealth might be a bit more complicated than just having more money or knowing what enough money was.
Now that I am retired it is crystal clear.
I have come to realize that though you need to have some money, wealth is not really about money at all.
Wealth is about time.
Simply put, you can’t buy time and that means it trumps money.
No one can give you any time.
You can’t win more.
You can’t borrow it.
You can’t save it for later.
You can’t make more or put it in a special account that will earn you more.
You have nothing but the time providence has set aside for you.
All you can do is try to use more of the time you are given to do the things you choose to do.
Therein lies the beauty, the wealth provided you in retirement.
The time you gain to do what you can of what you want is priceless.
Money by itself does not allow you to do more, to see more, to experience more.
You need time for that.
In that regard, I am one of the wealthiest people around.
From now on if someone asks me how retirement is I am not just smiling and speaking an emphatic “Yes.”
From now on I am telling people, “Walk away when you can, my friends.
You can always earn some money, but you can’t buy time.”

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