Money or a Life?

Hi Kay,
I probably didn’t read too much into the economics of the issue. Personally (speaking for myself), I think you tend to reach a stage in life where you hit the top of the bell curve and start to weigh up the pros and cons of time vs money. Over the past 8 or 9 years I’ve chased the dollar working all sorts of hours back to back as much as possible in the aim of ‘making hay while the sun shines.’ I guess now though my values have radically shifted as I mentioned with the bell curve analogy. It’s a case of the tortoise and the hare. Sunday used to be THE day to work because of the penalties it attracted, etc (eg, work one day for the equivelent in pay of two days). Now at 38, my values have shifted and time is starting to be more of a precious commodity. I want to spend more of it with friends that I love and care for and I know one thing. I won’t be lying on my death bed wishing, “If only I did that one more shift (clunk)!” I’m sick of playing catch up. When I returned from a long stint o/s 9 years ago, I realized how lucky we are in Australia and I couldn’t work long or hard enough if I tried. I was prepared and accepted delayed gratification for long term gain. Sorry for the waffle or if I’ve slid off the topic, but in answer to your post, I guess it comes down to (for me anyway) an age/stage factor more so than community standards/personal goals lately. After all, life isn’t a dress rehearsal? Good post too Kay!
Cheers,
Gatsby.

“Sometimes the hardest thing to do in life is often the best thing to do.”

29,000 public sector job losses…. I read recently a senior labour figure quoted approx 33,000 PS jobs were not needed.

I am delaying alot of gratification for long term gain. But it won’t be long before it tilts to gratification over money. Though I must say doing deals is fun.

Hellman

Yes, work can take over our lives if we are not careful… our economic view can get so deeply involved into the perspective of supply and demand that there is not much room left for other values.
Economic values can creep into every nook and cranny of a community’s life, e.g. health, transport, education and very close to you- your family and friends.
We give the developing/3rd world countries a taste of our “economics-above-all” viewpoint as well- think about the idea of dumping our pollution problems there- ‘they’ should be grateful for the opportunity in economic growth in return for environmental problems. A win/win!!!
If people refuse to take off their economy-coloured glasses, then everything that will improve the economy will look like general improvements, like win/wins.
But take off those glasses and you look into the eyes of fragile, neglected social and cultural values…
If, in practice, we do place money ahead of our relationships with family and friends it is because we have lost the ability to place enough value on cultural and social things.
We take these things for granted: an opportunity to make money is never to be missed, it might never come up again, while ‘people’ are taken for granted: “they will wait, they will still be there after I’ve finished this job….just a few more hours, days, weeks, months, years won’t hurt…”
We also tell ourselves that having a lot of money gives us freedom because ‘with money you can do what you want’.
This view of ‘more money=more freedom’ is a little warped, because next to the economical world there exists a social world which depends on people interacting, socialising, having contacts, having equal relationships; it is all about people functioning in and as groups. The family is one of these groups and every family member values a place, a small space in their life, in their home outside this hard and impersonal economical market.

The social environment is the foundation of the society.
Everything else (including our economy) should be merely orbit around our social life as social beings, and not vice versa.
‘Work to live’, not ‘live to work’.
Not everything that exists needs to have a price tag attached.
People give to each other, no price attached. If there was a price attached to gifts of love, of friendship, to spending time with people you love, then the value of these gifts would be minimised or erased.

People need the opportunity, the time to search for the things they need and want in their lives. People need to look for friendships, love, responsibilities, involvement. These things are what people crave.
Swapping this time which people need to be able to enjoy the things they need to do to be part of a society or a community for money is not going to make people happier, or give them more freedom. Freedom to do what?

After 9/11, we heard people (not only survivers of the disaster) say that the attack has caused a big change in their lives.
Whereas before the attack they were too occupied with making money, spending much more time at work than with people they loved; to occupied with work (or too scared to miss an opportunity to make money) to even take a morning off to take their child to their first day at school- after the attack they came to the realisation what is important in life.
Family life. Family support. Love. Sharing.

But in reality many people feel they need to (to keep up with their debts etc) focus on economics.

It is all a matter of finding a balance in our lives. A balance between work and a private life. I hope we find it some day.

Oops, such a long post, sorry for rambling on!

Celivia

Celivia,

Bravo!

10/10!

Cheers[trigger]

wayneL’s Trading Pages

Awwww jpmonty, I wish you the strength to ‘take the plunge’. It may not be easy, but at least you have now realised that something needs to change.

Many people have a good balance- they love their jobs; it satisfies them. And to be fair, we all need to make money. $$$
The only difficult thing for some people is finding the right balance.

If you feel that you cannot do it on your own, monty, remember there is always help available.

Celivia

Did he count himself in that number ?

Make that 29,000 again

Balance is the key and is relative to each person and where they are in life respectively.

Delayed Gratification to progress financially early on is obviously not as appealing as having a nicer lifestyle at the time.

However later on in life the ones that delayed gratification will be much better off than the ones who lived it up early.

The power of compounding over time will also give the ones who worked hard early on a much more luxurious life later than they could possibly have had early on.

Yet, their youth and health may have gone and their families grown up without much notice.

I personally think you have to have a good look at your life as a timeline and allocate periods of work when they are the most effective so as to maximise the overall enjoyment you can get out of life, remembering that there will be certain times in your life that should be focused on the things that are really important. Friends, family and your own wellbeing.

I think that the conservative approach of a life balanced towards enjoyment on the way is short sighted and somewhat selfish when it may actually steal time that is really needed to be spent with a growing family or other close ones in other times of need.

Consumer spending just adds to the damage.

Lifexperience