Remembering that every tool we have now was made from a less sophisticated tool itself
I use my tools for: -Adding joy to menial tasks & enjoying my brief time here on earth (fun q-car for commuting, house designed to be low maintenance, efficient & highly useful, etc.)
-Buying time with family and friends. I have a business. I could make more if I worked more hours but life is fleeting and I seek to maximize my time with those I love. Time on earth is precious. Stare at deaths a few too many times and you’ll hug your family with more love than most.
-Adding security to my life and those I care about (savings/investment for the long run).
-Ensuring I am well informed with educated expert wisdom/opinions/insights and trying to set aside my own view/bias to embrace objective realities & embody nuanced knowledge*
-Reducing lifetime cost to own in consumer goods (I always go for proven tech that is easily repairable/rebuildable/durable/durable in lieu of disposable, cutting edge & feature rich)
-Giving back to my community & helping those in need. I just really enjoy it and think more people should make time to volunteer. It’s so fulfilling!
-Securing a future for my kids.
-Building useful skills for self reliance (woodworking, mechanical , electrical, cooking skills...idk...saves $ and I’m good at it. I like things I’m good at).
*A personal conviction and contentious subject is that I believe more people should spend time or money on sourcing high quality information rather than trusting commercial sources on the World Wide Web.
I realize that my views are not the norm but I gotta say I’ve got the tools and feel in’ great. The measure of a man is not his bank account. Ultimately happiness is fleeting. So I don’t chase happiness.
Contentment is lasting and it comes from within. Fortunately/unfortunately I’ve seen more in my short life than most (raised by single immigrant parent, was charity case at rich kid private school, fired from more jobs than most people have had, witnessed a murder, survived 2x shipwrecks, befriended a novigenarian[sic]), launched a successful company, traveled the world).
With all that comes perspective and an unshakable sense of self. I would never wish my experiences on anybody; there was a lot of pain. But the sense of calm that comes with that as I sit here and watch the wind blow the trees in my yard is priceless. Life is good and boy how’s his it been a hell of a life!