Summer afternoons in our home usually equate to meals eaten on the front lawn or perched by the lake. They are filled with slow meandering walks after dinner, sitting on my son’s special rock by the cliff ‘watching the world go by’, sneaky dusk trips to the beach and the odd Corona with my husband.
But as I pulled in to the drive thru Hungry Jacks one Sunday, after spending every spare moment for a month renovating a property, I realised my summer had been hijacked. The mere fact that I was going through the drive thru of Hungry Jacks was a wake up call. I hadn’t been to a fast food joint in literally years. I sat on our rental property’s back deck, scoffing down an Aussie burger and wondering how I’d managed to SELL MY SOUL!
As I talked about last week, we decided to sell our rental property (you can read why here) and once our tenant moved out it was literally all systems go to prepare the property for sale. Every evening after work and for most of the weekends either hubby or myself or all of us (always a ‘what was I thinking’ decision!) were laying turf, painting, cleaning, mowing and meeting tradesmen. I was cranky with the kids, tired, I had no time or energy to work on this little passion project of mine, and I was neglecting my own well being. And really, when it comes down to it, it was all about the money honey.
Of course, ‘getting somewhere” (where-ever that ‘somewhere’ might be for you!) in life requires some sacrifice. If you want to run a marathon, you’ve got to get up each morning and do the training. If you want to create an incredible business, you’ve got to consistently work your butt off to get it off the ground, and even then it may never see light of day. If you want to accumulate some wealth, or create passive income, well chances are you are also going to have to sacrifice something… perhaps putting off buying a new car for a few years, delaying the renovations on your home, avoiding meals out or the latest i-phone, or selling your time and your energy. With any luck, what you have to sacrifice is something you don’t much value, or perhaps it is something you love doing anyway. In my case, I sacrificed my simple life for four weeks of chaos and it felt crappy!
I like to believe that I live my life with a higher purpose than money. I post a cool quote from Richard Branson and give myself a little high five because I am trying to walk the talk. But looking at my life over that month, I realised I sold those lazy after dinner walks with my children and coronas on the verandah for, hopefully, a decent sale price on this property.
Sure – I’ve said it to myself too. It’s only 4 weeks. We were just buckling down for 4 weeks and hopefully it would pay off. We could clear out the debt, have a tidy little investment and move towards the next stage of working a little less (or having the financial freedom to explore a few more ‘off beat’ options). But where does it end? I’ve heard it so many lines before…
“We will work just another 4 years at these jobs (we don’t like) so we can buy that bigger house.”
“We are just moving interstate for a few years away from our family (who we do like!) to get ahead with our investments.”
“Just another 20 years and we can really enjoy our retirement.”
Where is the line in the sand?
As Thoreau said “the price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it”. I don’t have the answer, but it’s certainly a fascinating question to ask yourself – Am I trading too much of my precious time right now for money and what it can buy me instead of truly living?
What are your thoughts? Ever felt like the balance is wrong and money has taken the upper hand?
Interesting point Sam! I choose to work on a casual rather than full-time basis to have the flexibility each fortnight to choose my shifts & go on holidays, away for a few days or simply go out, catch up with friends etc whenever I want.
I get asked at least once a week “Are you looking to go full-time though? Are you looking for a full-time job?” People just can’t get their head around anyone not wanting that. Even if I work the equivalent of 40hrs a week average, or work less hours to make the same pay (work night duty for the penalty rates), & even if I explain I have job security because I’m a nurse & there is always work available, so many people are still like “Yeah but…”.
Sometimes we do things just because everyone else is doing it, without stepping back & checking if it’s the best thing for us or what we really want.
Hey Claudia! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Totally agree that sometimes we forget to think about what we actually want rather than what is the norm. So glad to hear you are enjoying your self created freedom xo