This might be too philosophical for s2k offtopic...

Seriously -- How do you look at life. I am generally a calm optimistic person. But even in this "recession" I have clients demanding so much of my energy that I have to tell myself to relax. Life seems complicated. But just like my projects, everything that is complicated is simple when you look at just one detail at a time... the problem is that there are so many details to think about. haha.

Lets get philosophical -- What are your thoughts.

 

I always thought I was an extremely patient person. But now that I have a 1 year old and a three year old (both boys) I don't think I am a patient person.

 

1.) Everybody wants more money
2.) More Money requires more work
3.) More work = less energy = less time for yourself = lower quality of life
4.) If money isnt important to you and you don't equate quality of life with money, move to Italy where they work as little as possible and the quality of life there seems good for most people. Thats not for me, but some people seem to enjoy it.

 

mine are about the same ages 3yrs and 11 months, i learned to be patient it's hard i know but you have to be

back to topic:
life is very complicated, even though i'm a simple kind of guy, i know that sounds funny but thing about it for a minute

 

Dude, did dyhappy come back?

 

the simple life is long gone....

 

My wife and I are actually looking to downsize and simplify our lives. We have a 2400 sq ft house on a large lot that requires quite a bit of yard work and maintenance. We're looking to downsize to an 1800-2000 sq ft house with a small yard and maybe a salt-water pool (less maintenance and I can handle it easily - already do). We'd consider smaller homes if we could get an interior layout that works for us...

Additionally, we don't own personal cell phones (I have a company phone I can use as I please, though) or cable or satellite TV (we just bought our first small TV for our daughter to use for some of her schooling) and we don't have a bunch of toys. I have my S2000 and my photography equipment. She likes to travel and take mini-vacations.

So, we simplify our day-to-day tastes and extravagances in order to comfortably afford our main hobbies. It has also helped us tremendously lower our debt levels.

I sat down with the VP of my division one evening, over supper, and told him that I hadn't yet hit the wall between too much time at work and not enough time at home. However, I also told him that I wasn't going to spend six days a week at work, nor was I going to spend 10 or 12 hours a day at work, five days a week.

I make pretty good money now and I'll continue to work hard for promotions and raises but eventually, it will not be worth it to me to "take it to the next level". At that point, I'll just cruise at work and that'll be that.

I have no problem with the status quo, after a certain point. I've worked hard up front in life so that later, I can relax and enjoy life a bit more. For now, that means simplifying our lifestyle and keeping my head down and working well.

Even when it's all said and done, I don't intend to go crazy with the toys. Less toys means you can enjoy the ones you have all the more. Lots of toys end up dragging you down more than lifting you up. They sap money and you rarely use them to full effect if you have a lot of them.

The simple life is readily available. Most people just don't want to sacrifice for it. Thing is, once you try it, you'll find yourself all the more relaxed and happy. Sometimes, less really is more...

 

I learned trigonometry when I was 14 by reading my dad's college trigonometry textbook. In the chapter on trigonometric identities the author wrote that to prove a trigonometric identity you should start with one side of the equation and manipulate it till it looks like the other side of the equation, whereupon you're done. Then he wrote this:

"Quite naturally, we prefer to simplify the complicated side, rather than to complify the simplicated side."

That's my philosophy.

 

Life was simple (probably) for the cavemen. Nothing's simple in the 21st century.

 

[QUOTE=Yellow_S,May 19 2009, 04:30 PM] Life was simple (probably) for the cavemen.