"Life Is Too Short To Be Fearful"

"While many may not realize it quite yet, the current turn of events in these economic times will become a permanent life changing episode for millions. I truly believe that this change, given time, will be viewed as positive. It appears that the only thing that may eventually bring us to our senses and snap us out of this borrow and spend trance, will be the total inability to burn our precious lives up in the pursuit of material wealth. Sometimes bad things produce positive results.

You may be asking how such a traumatic period of time could possibly yield a positive outcome. I experienced a tragic event many years ago that forever changed my life. I don’t recommend this approach; however it was effective. At the time, it hardly seemed as if anything positive could come of the incident. One of those details is that I estimate having had less than 10 seconds remaining before dying that day; that sort of thing does get ones attention. This may give you some insight as to why I hammer each and every day to live simply and to live well. I have close up and personal knowledge of the very real fact that each and every day could be our last.

In my book, I said that if we had an hour glass on the kitchen table that represented the exact amount of time that we have to live, that we would behave much differently. Our quest for material wealth and the associated debt would be internally challenged every day.

We would ask ourselves such questions as, “Is it really worth the time out of my life to earn the money for making interest payments for seven long years to own the smell of a new vehicle?”

“Is it really worth thirty years of my life and hard work to be strapped at the end of every month to make the mortgage payment on a mini-mansion? Are the countless hours that I spend doing the “slow burn,” while stuck in traffic every day of my life well spent?”

If we asked ourselves that single question, “Is it worth the minutes and seconds that make up my very life,” before making any purchase I think we would be surprised at the outcome.

I always want to be perfectly clear that when I continually say, “live simple and live well,” that I am not advocating a life of hardship and poverty; far from it. The money that one saves from endless monthly payments and interest by living a simpler, less ostentatious lifestyle, can be directly converted to those things that are truly enjoyable. Of which, free time is not the least! As a perfect example, when I lived in Talkeetna, Alaska, I rented a low cost cabin, drove a cheap older vehicle and rode my bike. At the same time I owned a private airplane! With the money that most people stick into the ownership of a new depreciating auto, I supported my used appreciating airplane at a time when aviation was the love of my life.

Many of life’s hardships are of our own making. Freedom of choice is a wonderful thing. Just so long as we don’t allow our freedom of choice to make choices that steals our freedom. Remember, don’t sweat the small stuff and take time to smell the roses; life is short and comes with no guarantees at all. Make the best of it."

- Mike Folkerth, http://mikefolkerth.com/2009/03/17/life-changing-events/