Paradigm Shift

Here is a story that makes no sense to me. A 47 year old guy drops dead of a heart attack at his daughter's high school graduation party. He was moderately fit (recently dropping extra weight, although, prior to slimming down, I would not describe him as obese). He appeared to have a healthy lifestyle and owned a construction company, so was pretty active.

I knew this man by name and face, but never had the opportunity to interact with him other than in a few common meetings we attended in the course of my job. I do know from his colleagues and mine that he was a genuinely nice guy.

It is stories like these that make me want to throw in the towel, find a deserted island to call my own, and get down to the business of living on my own terms. Stop living for possession, live simply. No matter how you live your life, how important you are to a community, how well you take care of yourself, this could be the last day for your sorry ass. If you are looking to work hard until you can retire at 65 ( or 68 or whatever the hell ripe old age you need to be before the lawmakers deem it your time to rest on the pittance of a fixed income you have achieved working 40 hours a week since you teens/early twenties). And if you really win the longevity game, hello state run assisted living!

It is also times like these that I get very close to feeling that there is a sadistic puppeteer who finds it funny to cut the strings on a father who wants nothing more to celebrate the achievements of his daughter. Instead this party turns into a wake in a split second. No rhyme or reason.

I am lucky, I love my job and would be doing it even if I didn't need the money (probably part rime, but hey!) I feel I am giving of myself and my talents to help society at large. I try really hard to not be too opportunistic and not achieve my successes at others failure.

It really easy for me to picture the last day on earth scenario and look back and realize I have not lived to the fullest. I am not one to buy into that "live every day as if it were your last" bullshit. That is way too unrealistic for me. However, it is more tragic to me to have this be your last day allocated to you, when you had budgeted thousands more rather that to be halfway expecting your allotment could be closer to the hundreds range.

So maybe my shift in thinking should be to assume I will get to 47, and after that it is borrowed time? That is a depressing thought. Society sure doesn't set you up for that. 65 is the golden age, when you have so few active years left in you. It is not hard to see why as a society we expect to reach this and beyond. If we looked at it from the 47 standpoint, IRAs would drop in popularity. Sadly, luxury items would probably explode as midlife crises would now be at the 25 year old range. Not me, who needs possessions when we have so little time? I would start traveling. Screw saving every extra cent. Time is now my currency. I would find a job that would only require 30 hours a week. Family and friends would become a new priority as would my own growth as a person. Maybe looking at it as "living every year as it was your last" is more realistic.

Who knows? I will try to figure it out while watching TiVo....