What I Learned I Could Live Without

Some Things Matter, Others Dont

A home of my own

I live in a rented apartment. It is not new. It is not big.  It does not have a fancy address. But it is comfortable and I feel secure living in it.  And that is enough.

A 4-year college education

I am a college drop-out.  My lack of a college education has kept me out of some companies and jobs. But I was able to find interesting work and paying work.  And that is enough.

A regular paycheck

Since becoming a Commissions Consultant, I have not had a regular paycheck. I get paid different amounts from week to week and I do not get paid on public holidays, or days off. But I get to work in many different companies, get to work on a variety of different assignments, get to meet many cool bosses and teams, and get paid for every hour of time worked.  And that is enough.

A significant other

I have family.  I have friends. And I have interesting things to do, and to think about.  And that is enough.

Alcohol

I meditate, I exercise, I try to take it easy.  These are my forms of relaxation. It is more than enough.

Health Insurance

When I became a self-employed commissions consultant in 2010, I bought cheap catastrophic health insurance. Then Obamacare was launched and my health plan provider cancelled my plan. I said no to paying more than 3 times more for an Obamacare plan I didn’t expect to use much. I chose to go without health insurance, and look after my health as best I could, instead.  And it worked for me.  Adding a Christian health care sharing plan boosted my confidence further in the choice I had made.

Network TV

I have Netflix. I have Amazon Prime.  And that is enough.

A landline

I replaced my AT&T line with a Vonage line.  Then I gave up even that. Now I have just an Ooma box, and a cellphone.  And that is enough.

New Cars

So far, I have only bought used cars. I try to keep on top of maintaining them, so I feel safe riding in them.  And that is enough.

Windfalls

I know people who have made out like bandits on their stock options.  I have not had any windfalls like that, but I have savings for down times and lean times.  And that is enough.

Expert Tax Help

Come April 15^th, I log on to Turbo Tax and file my taxes the best I can.  And that is enough.

Idlis, Dosas and Biryani

I never thought the day would come when I would need to give up foods like idlis or dosas or biryani.  But then the day came when I had to choose – between letting my pre-diabetes progress to diabetes- and giving up foods that the blood sugar meter clearly told me were bad for me. Now I eat the carbs that I can eat.  And what I can eat doesn’t include yummy things like idlis and dosas and biryani. But I have decided that is enough.

Starbucks Coffee

Because of my low carb diet, all those wonderful Starbucks concoctions, such as mochas and macchiatos, no longer hold any attraction for me.  I drink instant coffee with heavy whipping cream and sugar-free syrup at home, instead. And that is enough.

Wanting My Writing to Be Popular

Some of the most popular posts on my blog were not written by me.  They were contributed by guest posters such as Ajay Sachdev and John Paraskevopoulos and Jacinta Correa and Anita Saran, all of whom were kind enough to let me publish their writing on my blog.  And I am fine with that. I do not need the most popular posts on my blog to be the ones I have written. In fact, next week, I will publish a guest post by Sanchita Lobo, which is so special, I predict it will become one of the most popular posts on my blog, like some of the other guest posts on my blog. 

Yes, what you learn you can live without will define you as much as what you think you absolutely need.

It will be different for you than it is for me.

It will be different for different people.

Even rich, successful people, who can have anything in the world, surprise us, and surprise themselves, by learning what they can live without.

For Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger:  Fancy houses and new cars are things they can live without.

For Suze Orman:  California weather is something she learned she could live without when she moved to Florida.

For Michael Lewis: A Wall Street paycheck is something he learned he could live without, when he gave up his Wall Street job to become a writer.

When you decide you can live without something, you will no longer have to worry about that thing. You can focus your dreams and desires and thoughts elsewhere.

If you have lived your life on auto-pilot, it may be worth thinking about what you can and what you can’t live without.

It is sure to open up your eyes and your life.

As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey, as I continue to seek the wisdom hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Happy Birthday to those with September birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life.  

Other Posts You Might Enjoy Reading:

Friendships

The United States of Friendship – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12

Family

Our Cake Boss Family, Family Songs, The Nightdress Brigade, Family Advice I Am Grateful For, The Porki And Bonkers Tradition, No Need for 23 and Me, Letters to Lucas, Flying Lessons

Pets

A Fresh Perspective on Pets, Secrets of The Super Models In Our Family, BowWow, Meoww, Why You Should Not Abandon Your Pet

Nature

Post on Trees, Reprising Joy Kilmer

Hobbies

Cricket, Glorious Cricket, Splendid Post, What!

Managing Your Money

Yoga for Investors, How to Turn Your Girl Scout or Cub Scout Into a Stock Scout, Financial Piece of Mind, Financial Piece of Mind – Part Deux, A Retirement Planning Formula You Won’t Find on Oprah

Simplifying Your Life

You know what Wesabi is, How About Wabi Sabi?  The Simple Life, The Element of Simplicity and Its Hope for Living a More Satisfying Life

Getting Over Your Self-Consciousness

The Element of Release From Inhibition, The Element of Being Less Self-Centered and Its Hope for Seeing Things in The Correct Light, The Element of Getting Out of Our Comfort Zone and Its Hope For Experiencing More of What Life Has to Offer

Learning to Laugh

How To Deal With The Sheldon Coopers in Your Life – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, The Nightdress Brigade, You Aced the SAT, How About the LAT?, How To Cause Atmost Confuzen at the Scripps Spelling Bee, How To Go From Madonna to Lilly to Myrtle in The Course of A Single Evening - And Even Have a Sex Change, A Facebook Face-Off, A Short Stint in Advertising

Learning to Relax

How To Become a Low Maintenance Person, Connected Minds, How To Become The Kind of Person People Want to Work with, How Many Times a Day Do You Visit Ireland? The Art of Carrying Things Lightly

Health

Raising the Bar, 4 Healthy Eating Ideas I Learned from My Friend Julia, The Element of Becoming More Focused and Precise In Our Goals and Its Hope for Achieving Powerful Results

Pursuing A Dream

What’s Next For You? The Element of The First Step and Its Hope for Getting Big Things Started In Our Lives, She Victories

25 Circumstances In Which You Should Consider Doubling Down On Your Resolve

When the money is worth it.

When the opportunity is worth it.

When it is essential to achieving your potential.

When you have a worthwhile goal.

When you have nothing to lose.

When you have a lot to learn.

When you really (really) want something.

If your conscience says you should.

If it’s a possible stepping stone to big things.

When your intuition tells you to.

When your financial position is at risk.

If it is what you need to do to tide over.

When a value that is important to you is on the line.

If it’s important to you not to feel like a quitter.

If it involves any habit you need to give up.

When you want to break a pattern.

If it’s a life and death situation.

When you’ve invested time and money, and victory feels close.

When people are depending on you.

When turning back would have negative consequences.

If your physical or emotional health will be positively impacted.

If it is important to your spiritual growth.

If it is important to your self-worth.

If it will increase your tolerance of challenges, frustration, and criticism.

If it will build your character.

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When you double down on your resolve, you effectively create your own boot camp. 

Going through your personalized 'circumstantial' boot camp, will make you stronger, and more confident in your ability to handle tough challenges.

A quitter mentality never made anyone feel good.

An easy-way-out mentality never made anyone feel good.

It is your hard achievements which will make you feel good.

Make sure your goals are hard and worthwhile goals to pursue.

Then resolve to double down, even triple down, on your resolve to achieve those goals.

I urge you to bump up your motivation to a new level by reading 2 other posts.

A post about breaking out of convenience, comfort and the status quo, and going for something bigger. Here's a sampling of that post, taken from its concluding lines:

"You can’t write a blog without actively choosing fear.

When you sit down to write a post, you fear being boring, being repetitive, being out of touch, and being irrelevant.

I face that fear every week when I sit down to write. 

Convenience.  Comfort.  Status Quo.

Inconvenience.  Discomfort. Breakthrough.

The fact that I am still writing tells you what my spirit has chosen."

Intrigued as a terrified writer, or as a terrified "whatever"? You can read the post here.

Another post which I urge you to read has this powerful message from Joe De Sena of Spartan Up fame: 

“When you break through the other side of hell and finish an event that did not seem possible, that stopped you in your tracks, over and over, something happens.  You feel accomplished, incredibly proud of yourself, and in some ways, a different person”

You can read this post with its Joe De Sena inspirations here.
                              
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As always, thanks for sharing my Journey to Wisdom, Meaning and a Better Life.  Like you I am trying to find my way through this complex maze we call life, and I am honored to have you share my journey, as I continue to seek the wisdom hidden in plain sight.

Thanks to Ajay for his compliments on my last post, and thanks to the rest of you for your likes, pins, shares, tweets and votes…..much appreciated….M ……a Pearl Seeker like you. 

Happy Birthday to those with September birthdays.  Hope you use your birthday month to birth something new and wonderful in your life. Don’t be afraid to double down on your resolve, to birth something new and wonderful in your life.