Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you.
Does anyone ever realize life while they live it…every, every minute?
–Our Town, Thornton Wilder
Giving Thanks
Usually, it’s not hard for me to think of ideas for posts here on 1500 Days. And even that is a stretch because I don’t have to come up with them; the ideas come to me. Sometimes, when I’m out for a walk, I’ll come up with 5 in the span of just 20 minutes. This is why I have hundreds of posts in draft:
But last week, I was trying to come up with an Ask the Readers posts for today and couldn’t think of anything. I started to freak out just a little and then this came to me:
So yeah, it’s Thanksgiving here in the states. This is the holiday where we’re supposed to contemplate all that we’re thankful for.
I originally came up with a list of stuff:
- My health is better.
- I have more time with the children.
- Mrs. 1500 is finally learning to live in a house that’s cooler than a sauna.
- Blah, blah, blah…
All of that stuff is good and important, but it’s trite and obvious too.
Boring. Not challenging. Phoning it in.
If you’ve taken the time to come here to read my silly thoughts, I owe you something better. I owe it to myself too. Here we go.
Life is Great
What I’m most thankful for is that I now have the time to contemplate my life. I like to do this on walks. And I walk a lot; at least 6 miles per day.
On some days, I think about what I’m having for dinner. Mmmmm, turkey! Soon…
On other days, I look around and soak up my surroundings.
On other days, I get all deep and consider my mortality. And if there is anything you should take away from my words today, it is this:
Contemplating death is the best way to feel alive.
Most of us don’t really appreciate our lives until we’re near the end or we’ve had a brush with death. If you were diagnosed with a terminal disease, you’d savor every minute. You’d look at every sunrise, sunset and everything in between as a gift. Every. F***ing. Day.
It’s happened to me a couple times.
There was the time the front wheel came off on my road-bike when I was hauling ass down a hill. The fork planted itself in the asphalt and I went flying into the air. I had no protective gear on; I wasn’t even wearing a shirt, but somehow came away with no serious injury.
Another time, I went into a corner a little too hot on a motorcycle. I came thisclose to losing it and crashing into a stand of trees. I was able to recover and bring the bike to a safe stop and was unscathed, physically anyway. It took me a while to stop shaking.
And leaving work has caused me to contemplate my life as well.
It seems counter intuitive, but being free of a job has made me value every minute more than I ever have. My sense of urgency has kicked into overdrive.
I didn’t expect it.
But now, I realize it’s because I feel accountable for every minute. When I had a job, my mindset was that those 8 or 9 hours, Monday through Friday belonged to someone else. Now that they belong to me, I appreciate them much more. I don’t want to waste any of them.
I think I’m better off with this new mindset, but I also feel more pressure. I must do good with this gift of early retirement.
And I’m thankful that I’m able to figure my life out. Walking around aimlessly, but at the same time, letting my brain gnaw on random and sometimes deep thoughts is incredible. I’m better for it.
And most of all, I’m thankful that I now have more of the most valuable resource in the world, time. I’m not wasting any of it.
And You?
What are you thankful for? You don’t have to go all deep like me. If you need help:
- What has made you happy for 5 minutes this year?
- How is your life better in 2017 than it was in 2016?
- Tell me one memorable moment from this year?
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Love your point about valuing every minute. I’m not retired yet but have adopted that mindset quite a bit lately. Our time is precious let’s use it to its fullest and enjoy it. Happy thanksgiving.
Happiness in the last 5 min? Lunch 😉
Team CF recently posted…How do Ethics and FIRE mingle?
Glad you didn’t bite it hard on the motorcycle deal. Jesus. And yes, be thankful Mrs. 1500 has acclimated better to reasonable indoor climate levels. Mrs. Cubert suffers stoically through all my scientific tweakage to our NEST settings. God bless her.
I’m most thankful for my happy little four year olds. They are awesome. A lot of work and not cheap, but you can’t put a price on the overall joy kids bring.
Happy Thanksgiving, Carl!
Love this!!: “Mrs. Cubert suffers stoically through all my scientific tweakage to our NEST settings.”
And Happy Thanksgiving to you and the Cubert family too!
The ‘phoning it in’ stuff is the important stuff though, right? My family, my health… yep, yep. Me too.
I use my long, torturous training rides on my road bike to contemplate these things, and yes that’s also when I come up with new post ideas. Unlike you, I keep the front wheel attached to the bike at ALL TIMES 🙂
This year though besides the basics I’m also thankful for the gift of FI. It’s a gift that I worked hard for, but a gift nonetheless.
“It’s a gift that I worked hard for, but a gift nonetheless.”
Yep, We all got lucky in that we were born in a first world country where we have the opportunity to retire early. I’m so thankful for it.
“When I had a job, my mindset was that those 8 or 9 hours, Monday through Friday belonged to someone else. Now that they belong to me, I appreciate them much more. I don’t want to waste any of them.”
Great point. I still have a “regular” job, but I’ve taken a different mindset both during those “regular” Monday through Friday hours and outside that time frame. Doing so made me thankful for the usual things (health, family, friends, etc.), but it made me thankful for optionality and choices.
Mike @ Balanced Dividends recently posted…How We Got To Averaging +$1,000 a Month In Passive Income
We had a heath scare with my dad at the end of last year, so 100% that he’s still here and we have gotten more Thanksgivings, Father’s day and all the rest. I am thankful for family.
Genuine people in my life who I can open up to, and who feel comfortable opening up to me. I am thankful for friends.
I am thankful for cool opportunities that seem to come up when I’m not specifically looking, because I’m open to what comes up.
I often end my yoga classes suggesting we find 3 things to be grateful for, and repeat 3 times to our self. Friends, family, yoga, sunshine, are frequent answers along with specific people, and a healthy body to practice with and in.
Thanks for asking. Enjoy your holiday!
Nice –>> “I often end my yoga classes suggesting we find 3 things to be grateful for, and repeat 3 times to our self.”
This has been a year of change for our family. My wife transitioned to stay at home mom and then to self employed. The ramification of that is our travel as a family has magnified 3 fold since my own job is location flexible. Work became less important as well as I realized where we are financially. We’re now living life our way. And of course, most important everyone is healthy and happy. Happy Thanksgiving.
FullTimeFinance recently posted…Playing Chicken with Estimated Taxes
Oh wow, I m very impressed by the 342 drafts! Ideas come to me very easily, but the having the time to write the drafts is the challenge. I usually write a post the day before publishing it 🙂
Other than that, I’m thankful for my family, friends, health and career.
I’m with you. Nothing makes you appreciate life more than a close brush. I was on the roof the other day and well, let’s not talk about it. That shaking took a while to burn off… Life is good.
It’s interesting that you’ve got that sense of urgency after you quit working full time. I’m the opposite. I’m much more relaxed these days.
Joe recently posted…How to Avoid Overspending this Holiday Season
Yikes Joel I’m glad that you survived your adventures on the roof.
“It’s interesting that you’ve got that sense of urgency after you quit working full time. I’m the opposite. I’m much more relaxed these days.”
I’m working my way towards this. Kind of. I’d like to go hard for spurts, like when the girls are in school, but then learn to relax at other times like over summer vacation.
This is very timely! I just had a health scare and I thought that I had cancer for a few weeks (everything’s fine!). It made me more appreciative of my health and the great things in my life. Isn’t it funny how much we enjoy things when we think they might be taken away?
Mrs. Picky Pincher recently posted…What A Frugal Weekend! November 19
“Isn’t it funny how much we enjoy things when we think they might be taken away?”
Yep. And this is human nature. Loss effects us much more than gain. Stupid lizard brains.
My husband and I acted like silly kids this weekend. We torn down the curtains and draped them around ourselves. He was a king and I was a faerie. We also hopped on the stairs like frogs/5 year olds. That’s what brought me the most happiness this week. That and finding free salami 🙂
I need a bad scare to move forward…as grotesque as that sounds. Hardship is necessary.
Huge smile on my face right now picturing this!
Well I’m always grateful for my health…always! I happy with what my body allows me to do. I used to think 47 was old, but now that I’m there, I can see that lifestyle makes a huge difference in what your body will let you accomplish. I want to take care of that assets. One of my most memorable moments was going to Europe (Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria). I loved being able to fully enjoy it but know I had the income and money to support the trip without me having to think much about it.
Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…October Rewind: Pumpkins Behaving Badly
It’s funny that you wrote this today as I have a quick story. A few weeks ago I was walking to the grocery store on a day off from work. It was me and my wife’s wedding anniversary that day and was getting food to cook her a nice dinner/dessert. As I was about to go into the store this guy stopped me and wanted to ask me a question. He ended up being a reporter for the local newspaper and he was doing a story on Thanksgiving. He was asking people what they were thankful for. Given that it was our anniversary that day, I said my wife (which is still true). I could see the slight frustration on his face as it was a bland answer, but that’s what he got for asking me unannounced and on the spot haha! That a really good answer you gave regarding time, and I wish I had thought of it in that moment. In any case, happy Thanksgiving to you and the family!
Frustration! Jerk-porter! There are no shortage of unhappy marriages. It’s wonderful that you’re in a position where you truly appreciate your wife and I don’t think your answer was bland at all.
And one of the things I’m thankful for was meeting you and the other fun people in Central Park. The best part of blogging is the community. Let’s do it again in 2018!
And I hope you and yours have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!
I actually didn’t even give the reporter that much thought until you wrote this post. My wife was so happy to see flowers (she actually wanted me to return them because she thought they cost too much…haha) and that I was cooking that I forgot about the whole incident. Definitely hit the wife jackpot when we got married. You’re right that there’s no shortage of unhappy marriages, but there’s plenty of happy one’s too (especially in this community)! Also, definitely thankful for the meetup too! Hopefully I can get her to come to next years.
I’m thankful for the dancing shadows of tree branches through the window on my desk.
I’m telecommuting, and valued professionally to the point that when a big chunk of my team recently up and rolled out, the higher-ups scrambled to find me a spot. So here I am with a wife whose career allows me to take a risk or two with mine, my dog snoozing here at my feet, a fully-funded-for-2017 401k, a warm home in the cold windy weather, a backyard full of giant mature trees, and a big sunny south-facing window at my back, all in a great neighborhood full of friends. I’ll get to FIRE in the next fifteen years; for right now, I’m happy to be doing alright. Those dancing shadows sum it up neatly.
I nearly fell off a ladder this morning, cleaning out a clogged gutter in the rainstorm. It certainly felt like a brush with death!
I’d echo your sentiments here Mr. 1500 — Time is the thing I’m most thankful for! Having the time to see the smiles on my kid’s faces is priceless! FIRE is absolutely wonderful, and should be on every family’s TODO list.
Mr. Tako recently posted…It’s OK To Be A “Sometimes Traveler”
I love my walks too. I feel like a rich person when I take my walks because it is something that I would still be doing no matter how much money I had, and it is an activity that I would not enjoy any more, no matter how much more money I had. Sometimes when I take my walks I pretend that I am rich and retired, and there is nothing to tell me otherwise.
That money is irrelevant to us for the rest of our lives and that our kids are self sufficient and stable in a crazy world and will be able to handle the estate they’ll inherit some day. That we are healthy and happy together as we enjoy our fortieth year of marriage. That we have busy and fulfilling lives and that my side gigs, paid and volunteer ones keep me happy but not stressed. That we can still run eight miles together at a decently fast pace and both can still soundly defeat all the local high school tennis team players though we are past sixty. That God is good, all the time.
Wow, you’re clearly doing something right. Write a book and I’ll buy 10 copies.
2017 has been awesome since my husband and I are starting to take more risks in life. We’ve played the FIRE game very safely so far, but that isn’t our plan in the long run. My husband and I get to walk on our lunches together, which is typically one of the best 15 minutes of my day (okay, longer than 5 minutes…). We are away from home and can’t run through any big discussions, so we goof around and appreciate each other. It helps me stay inspired through the rest of the workday.
After my brush with death, we’ve definitely started to value things differently. We also tend to take things as they come and appreciate them.
I’m truly thankful that the Mrs and I value things similarly. It makes things so much smoother. Well other than I like my shoes out of the closet. She likes them in it.
I’m thankful that as I get older, I seem to be figuring this whole ‘life’ thing out a bit better… I’m happier now, less impatient, and more forgiving of myself and others. I ‘stop and smell the roses’ a whole lot more than I used to – I appreciate many of the little things in the world around me.
After two years of reading and working towards FI, I’m grateful to have found this community. I’m lucky to live in a affluent country and have had the opportunity to support myself and save towards FI. I’ve met wonderful people this past year (like Mr&Mrs Wow above) at the Chautauqua and some folks in the Bay area. I feel a lot less alone in the geeky weirdness.
Hi Joe,
Just wanted to say that I came across your blog after CBS did a mention of you today:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/early-retirement-financial-independence/
Your blog is great! I have been reading your older posts and I really envy that you manage to hit your FI/RE number so quickly. It is truly inspirational reading. Keep it up!
Best wishes from Down Under
Thanks SydneySaver! My real name is Carl, but Joe is pretty good too. Call me anything you want really, as long as it isn’t a colorful metaphor. I’m a sensitive guy! 🙂
Lately I’m thankful that my arm surgery went so well. It’s only been a little over 4 weeks but if it weren’t for the scar and the doctor’s instructions to not lift any weight I couldn’t even tell anything happened.
Also thankful for the opportunities to do cool things and meet great people.
I am thankful for my amazing wife! We eloped to the Amalfi coast in Italy in October 2016, so 2017 was full of many firsts and much happiness as husband and wife.
2017 has improved my life exponentially when my wife pointed me to my first Mr. Money Mustache article, and I was introduced to the FIRE community. Our lives have changed drastically, as well as our future.
A memorable moment is when my wife encouraged me to pull the trigger on buying a $900 road bike this past July, my first, real nice bicycle. Now I get to enjoy riding my bike to and from work on a daily basis.
As always, thanks for all the positivity that you share!
There aren’t many things that I’ll spend a lot of money on, but I make an exception for bikes! Not $6,000 ones, but $1,000 is definitely more than OK. After all, health is priceless.
Physical Health, Emotional Health, Spiritual Health. Exercising my inner and outer body as many days as I can is the biggest thing to be thankful for. We should continuously do this preventive maintenance for ourselves. Watching Sunday Night Football in bed with some chocolate while the little one is asleep – THANKFUL 🙂
I still love him though!
SMM recently posted…Better Later Than Too Late
I am satisfied with my present life
Other than that, I’m thankful for my family, friends, health and career.
Having the Mr’s recent brush, well more like direct impact, and then recently having a young client of mine pass away, death has unfortunately been on the forefront of my mind. I’ve pondered a lot of questions and embraced many emotions over the past few months. It’s amazing how sobering it is and how much it makes you stop and think about life.
1) Reading your blog has definitely given me more than 5 minutes of happiness this year. 2) I have solidified my purpose in life and have defined goals/ taken steps on how to get there 3) Drinking amazing beer and hanging out with rad like-minded people will definitely be a night I will remember (well at least I’m trying to remember- did I say the beer was good?)
Thanks for the kind comment Mrs. WoW! And this is really, really cool: “I have solidified my purpose in life and have defined goals/ taken steps on how to get there.”
Is there anything more important than having purpose? I think not. Figure that out and everything else falls into place.
Very good article. I have been doing a lot of reflections about my life, as I have the luxury of time since retirement. Lately I read two memoirs about life and death, and plan to read another one very soon. In both cases, the authors got terminal cancer, wrote the beautiful books, and didn’t finish the book before passing away. Very sad and touching. One of the authors is Paul Kalanithi. They reminded me how precious life and good health is, and I got to feel lucky and appreciate every minute. Thank you. – Helen