I wonder if I value the right things in life. [amazonify]0979863600:right[/amazonify]
I talked to an old friend from the Marine Corps yesterday via e-mail. He’s doing well. We were roommates in Atlanta after I left the Corps. We went different ways. I work in corporate America and he decided to be a wedding photographer.
Yesterday he told me that he is happier than he has ever been. He now lives in Galveston, Texas. He is writing books. He rides a bike and basically spends his time however he feels like spending it. Right now, that mostly consists of reading books and writing. He told me that he can live the next seven years without working if he decides that is what he wants to do. That is freedom.
I commute three hours a day. I have financial obligations, a stressful job that demands constant multi-tasking, regular travel (our airport system is a cattle herding adventure) and a boss who uses 1960’s management mentality to drive me nuts. Would I trade places with him? No. But I am considering making some adjustments to my values. What I value affects the choices I make related to the hours I find myself working and the blood pressure readings I’m likely to see down the road.
Since I have not yet published my own first novel, let me shill for my buddy Ara – pick up a copy of his book Drawers and Booths.