To Money and Health

Dear Reader,

How do you view your life ahead of you? Do you see your future as definite or do you view it more vaguely? I tend to see my future in nebulous chunks. Currently, I am in the experimenting-with-jobs / figuring-things-out chunk. In this part of my life, I feel like I am living like a college student with a few part-time jobs, except I am not a student at all and just a young working adult. I feel very free, yet very constrained in this little chunk (depending on the month). Once I complete this chunk, I hope to move on to the part of life focused on “building” a future, which includes, career, relationships, finances, etc.

I am thinking about the future because 2020 is right around the corner. Will 2020 be different or will it be like 2019 extended version. In my case, the latter half of 2018 and all of 2019 kind of bled together. Will 2020 become a part of this chunk or will it be the year that things start to change? These questions are hard for me because I feel that in life we have a whole lot of freedom but also a fair number of constraints. For example, we all (or almost all) have to work. For you is work a few hours a week or more like 60+? We also are all constrained by our health. Whether you are an Olympic athlete, a millionaire, or just an average Jane, you will reach a time when you cannot have children, a time when young people will give up their seats for you on the subway, and a time when you will get special discounts at the movie theater. Money and health alone really, really affect how we spend our time on this earth.

To overcome these constraints, perhaps I will make 2020 the year of “money and health.” I say this in jest, but it has a nice ring to it. Although I wish I had a plan for 2020, I really just don’t, I guess I am still stuck in the figuring-it-out phase. As much as I want to, I really can’t force myself to come to a conclusion about where I want to go in 2020 until I get there. 2020 probably will not be the year of “money and health” (boo!). Much like the history books, we do not really know, understand, or name the periods of our lives until they are well over. With that in mind, as 2020 draws nearer, I will look back to 2019 instead of looking forward. 2018 and 2019 were the years of hard work and figuring things out. They were tough at times, but also very exciting, with the highest peaks and the deepest valleys. I will continue to pursue the things that brought me joy this past year (walking, audiobooks, relationships, travel, language learning), and I will ditch the things that brought me stress (all nighters, not walking, staying up late, overloading my schedule).

I guess instead of thinking about what I will change on January 1^st, 2020, I will think about what I could have done differently on January 1^st, 2019. I’m a very introspective person, so it’s weird that I hadn’t really thought about visualizing the new year like the old one. They say hindsight is 20/20. We must look back to move forward.  I will use my 20/20 on 2019 to think about 2020. I don’t know where life will take you, Dear Reader, but I sure do wish you the best for 2020. I propose a toast – to money and health or whatever makes you happiest in the new year.

Love,

Raven