What's really important

[RetiredATLATC]

I posted this picture in the Dog Thread and as I've always read about finance and money and QOL etc on here (not being a pilot but a 30+ yr ATC @ ATL), and have ex family that were 30+ yrs at Southernjets and have seen old skool QOL, I started thinking.......

What's really important in life? How much is enough?

This picture, though inocuous to most, epitomizes my daily life the -30 days a year I'm home. I've been gone 155 days + in a pretty amazing, but very different place, and will be gone at least another 3+ years. I've wondered, how much is enough financially, when is there enough to be "happy", so....

For me, once the dragon (maniacal ex) releases me from alimony, all I care about is paying my monthly bills with a little left over for a few trips a year. I live a simple mountain life with an amazing women; and that's all I want and need.

Iraq money (not actual Iraqi money obviously) is stupid good, but it is a means to an end. All bills paid off, short of a small mortgage, and then freedom.

I've seen too many controllers, pilots, etc hang on for just the "extra few percent" to their retirement, and life ends before life actually begins. I saw a father who ran two of the biggest US mutual funds work until a few weeks before he passed away as well as numerous controllers beg for an aditional year "on the boards" to get that 1 or 1.5% extra in their retirement, and be gone halfway through that stint, so I ask....

How much is enough? Do we just plug away, usually too long to enjoy it, just for that extra %, or are a good portion of you "working to actually live"?

Or do we always chase the dragon, and are never happy.....?

 

[A Life Aloft]

What I have come to realize is that nothing on this planet is as important as the person we share our lives with, our family, kids, grandkids, our dogs and cats, our home, and our friends. We can all do with having much less in our lives than we think we need, also. We can let go of so many extraneous things and get down to the basic necessities and be very happy and fulfilled. There is a lot of joy to be found in the simple activities and events in life. It's a waste of our lives to wait until we are too old to enjoy our lives and live our final years in contentment and peace surrounded by the things and people that really matter and have value. The worst part is that you can suddenly find yourself in a situation where something medically can appear out of the blue with no warning, and change your world in a heart beat or even end it. You don't want to find yourself in that situation, believe me.

Is the three extra years going to be worth missing out on having your life in your home with your dogs and your girlfriend.........that's what I would be seriously looking at.

As far as alimony, one can go back to court and have that adjusted to match a change in your income.

If someone would have asked me just two years ago what would I do in your shoes......I'd say stick it out and finish the contract. Now......not so much. I'd be heading my ass home far sooner rather than later. It's simply not really worth it to do anything else, but to go home. Trust me on this. We cannot get back or make up "time". Once it's spent/used, it's gone forever.

 

[esa17]

The most difficult thing to learn is what "enough" is.

 

[jskibo]

As far as alimony, one can go back to court and have that adjusted to match a change in your income.

.

An adjustment for an involuntary change (layoff, termination, end of contract), is far easier than a voluntary change (wanted to do something else that pays less).

 

[splash]

What is success to you? It varies from one individual to another.
The dragon you speak of is a culture problem definitely worth putting our minds together and successfully fixing. Times are much different now but the rules never changed with the time. There is no reason for alimony to exist today.
This guy always lifts my spirts.