This quote has been on my mind ever since I heard it a few weeks ago on a podcast. Do you agree?
I hadn't thought about it before, but I agree. Ted and I take a nontraditional path at times, and especially have in the last six months or so. We went through the hassle of leaving a perfectly lovely home, to buy a much smaller, more affordable one. We fired our financial advisor to take on the burden ourselves and save the fees. We say no to the latest high tech gadgets, we said no to showering the kids at Christmas, we said no to exchanging gifts with family members, we said no to an expensive vacation. These were not easy decisions, and the easiest path would be to just say "YES," to keep doing what we were doing, to keep doing what others wanted us to do. It's not easy. It's not easy to disappoint others.
We are currently making some focused choices in order to retire early. Not next week, but well before 65. We are willing to make these decisions now for that long term goal. But it's not easy to buck the system, it's not easy to take a different turn than everyone else. The two of us have more spring in our steps and are so excited to be working towards this goal but it doesn't come effortlessly, and sometimes it affects others.
I just finished reading the book, Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis. She implores us to stay true to our dreams and make it happen. No one else can own your dream, and no one else will care about your dream like you do. I channelled this mantra and repeated it in my head this week when I knew a family member was upset about one of our decisions. Hard Decision, Easy Life, I kept thinking. It would be easy to make this person happy but that would result in a harder life for us.
It's easy to stay in a job you don't love, or in a city you don't love. It's easy to stay with someone you don't totally love, it's easy to spend money at Target, it's easy to Prime everything, it's easy to let your kid be on a screen all day but all of these come at a cost. What is it in your life that's easy that maybe you need to make a hard decision about?
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