What should one do in their 20s to avoid regrets in their 30s and 40s?
Noticed something funny?People in their 30’s purchase a house on a massive loan.Why?So that when they do become old, they can live in it.So what they do is buy a house for a 30 year mortgage or loan and work their ass off for the next 30 years to pay for the loan.Funny thing is - they are working like a dog - spending their entire youth chasing, running and making - so that they can live in a house during their old age.Funny right?And they do not even think of the possibility that - maybe, just maybe - they may die before hand or that something may happen before that - which can change the entire course of their lives.So what these people and many others like them do is - live for the future.First and foremost - How do you know you will live until the age of 40? or 30?How do you know you may not die within 1 year? Next month? Next week?How do you know?The fact is - no one knows!Everyone likes to assume or believe they will live until the ripe old age of 75 or 100. It is nice to have an Optimism Bias but it is better to be practical and realistic.No one knows if you or I will live until the age of 30 or 40.And whatever advice I may give you today - may not be applicable in another few years.Why?Because you have changed, people have changed, the environment has changed and our world has changed.Given a planet where the technology changes every few weeks - you seriously want someone to give you advice for the next 10 years?Well - if you really want something worthwhile to keep in mind and heart….here would be the advice I would give.Live everyday as if it were your last day on the planet.Do everything that needs to be done - so that if you were to die tomorrow - you would live your life knowing - you have no regrets.That doesn’t mean live it recklessly or take a credit card and blow it out it completely. What I mean is - do those things money cannot buy and those things that do not hurt others. And live in a manner that is true to your value system. And where ‘living for the future goes’ - cross that bridge when it arrives.Remember - do not waste what you have right now - for hopes and anticipation for a future you have not seen and do not know if it will ever come.That is why what you have right now - is called “The Present”.Loy Machedo
Why do people in their 60s think they are not old when they are about 85% through their lives?
I will be turning 60 in eighteen months. I don't think that I'm old now, and I can't imagine that I will be thinking that I'm old in the foreseeable future, regardless of what percent of the way through life I am.Sometimes I forget that I'm not a teenager anymore. But, in reality, I'm no spring chicken. I can't paddle my kayak as fast, or as far as I used to, and sometimes my lower back starts to ache after a hard days work. But it's not that bad.It could be that random children in the supermarket checkout line see me as an old man. I don't know.But I feel younger now than I did 20 years ago. I feel great as a matter of fact. Maybe that's because I've been living a healthier lifestyle for the last ten years."Old" is a state of mind, although physical health has a lot to do with it. How do we know how long we will live? How do we put a percentage on it? My father, who was apparently healthy, died quite unexpectedly at the age of 32, with no warning whatsoever.Mistakenly believing that my fate was sealed as well, I lived much of my life as if there was no tomorrow; not caring for myself.At one point when I was younger, I was drinking night and day, half strung out on cocaine, oxycontin and xanax. I felt decrepit most of the time. Very old. It's a miracle I held my career together, but somehow I managed to survive relatively intact.It's a good thing I straightened out because I was on a fast track to pushing up daisies.Do I now think I'm 85% of the way through my life? Maybe. Who knows? One thing is for sure, if I die tomorrow then I'm 99.995% the way through my life as I write this. At least I will not go out thinking that I'm old.Lately, I make sure to appreciate life; to not take it for granted. We should take care of ourselves and our loved ones. No matter what age we are, we should enjoy life, explore new places, watch a sunrise, live in the moment, feel as young as we can, because it's the only life we've got, and we certainly can't turn back the clock.Image credit: Amanda, Sunrise at St Clair Beach, Dunedin - Living in Another Language