Living a Prosperous Life
After 40 years of hard work, I have finally come to a point in my life where I’m doing well financially and prioritizing my happiness above accumulating wealth. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working and accumulating wealth, but it’s no longer my primary motivation in my life. My new primary motivation is enjoying my life, while I’m still relatively young and healthy. I don’t have a lot of the “Good Years” left to trade for money. I’m living my best life now.
Vacationing is Living
I have had an incredible year of vacations in 2021. After getting shut down by COVID for most of 2020, I went overboard on vacations in 2021 and I’m not the only one. This year, I had four full vacations and a couple of nice weekend trips. I checked off three of the bucket-list trips I had been dreaming of for years and I’m already planning a couple nice vacations for next year. For so many years, I either skipped taking destination vacations because I couldn’t afford them or I camped in the back of my pickup truck out in the desert. I made the most of what I could afford at the time, but it doesn’t seem like nearly enough. Thankfully, those days are over.
I’m not going to turn into a Digital Nomad any time soon, but 2-3 weeks of vacation per year no longer seems like enough. One day soon, I’m going to have to find a way to make a decent living and take a couple months of vacation per year or else I’m going to retire early and start to travel regularly.
Friends & Family
One of the trips I took this year I called the “Bro Tour” and I had been planning it for at least five years. A friend and I drove through 10 states to visit 9 of our friends we grew up with. It was an amazing experience I will never forget. Staying with my friends, seeing their houses and sharing a moment in their lives was priceless. Another trip I had planned for years was taking my wife to Maui for our 30th anniversary. COVID cancelled this trip last year, but it was just as glorious this year for our 31st anniversary. My wife has a lot of family on Maui, so this wasn’t the typical tourist romp. We were welcomed in a way that Islanders call Aloha and treated as Ohana. What I learned from both trips is friends and family are a big part of prosperity and relationships are part of the wealth of life.
The Bottom Line
Prosperity is a lot more than wealth and success. It is also about flourishing, thriving and enjoying your life to the fullest. Options are many and limitations few because sound finances allow the pursuit of passions and realization of dreams. After your basic needs and desires are met, it’s rewarding to help and encourage others on their path.
“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” – Arthur Rubinstein
