Chasing the rainbow or not.

This is an illustration of a BOUNTIFUL HARVEST.

When we get to where we should be, years after we first started work, we dream of how we like to spend our leisure hours - because by then, we assume we don't need to worry too much about using money to get re-charged.

Where we all live, here in the heart of SEA, money will always be everyone's migraine.  BUT as we close in on retirement, a handful of us, who chose to live a simple life vs an extravagant life, don't have to work as hard to achieve this state.

This was my buddy's harvest. There was the boat rental to consider - this boat was what they took to venture out.  He needed time out (again) as we all do from time to time (6 mths to a year) - and the nearest location for this, when time is a constraint, is Mersing, Malaysia.

A 'vacation' like this doesn't blow the bank account and for sea lovers, it does re-charge them - watching the sunrise and sunset, cool sea breeze and reeling in the catch.  It allows people to put aside our professional self and just BE.

My buddy, is a typical local but without the desire to keep up with the Jones'.  He lives in a HDB he first bought, has a regular Japanese made car and as such, doesn't have a huge deficit in the books ie, no large private housing payment, no large car mortgage.

That is the way to live.  He's approaching retirement, say 12 years from now and there is no financial stress at all.  It won't matter if he converts to part-time work.  He can.

He can because he chose to live, all his life and not just be like an icon.

I admire that in people and it may have taken me a long time to realise that, but he made the right decision and because of that, I have changed my life course.  No more chasing rainbows in the sky - because my life has been decorated with them already, I just wanted more.