Why is it that we read all of our lives the regrets of scholars, leaders, politicians, giants of industry, or just the average Joe on the street that they waited too late to fugure out that life is more than who you are or what you accomplish at work. We read countless stories of those who wished they had spent less time working and more time with family, but when it happens to us we are shocked. No this realization didn't come to me recently. I actually came to the realizations several years ago but with my traditional zeal I launched myself into a post military retirement career with gusto, and now I am trapped.
Not trapped in the physical sense of course although that might be less stressful. No, I am trapped by the success I have enjoyed during my second career, by choices I have made...like moving for a new opportunity before selling the old house, taking advantage of the great deal on the time share, boat, etc, etc. You get the picture. You may even be there yourself. So what to do? Well I for one am going to eat that elephant one bite at a time. Sure I could divest myself of the two houses, timeshare, etc at a big loss, depleting retirement accounts and staring over but I am old enough to be more patient and take some time and work to a plan. I won't ever recapture the time I didn't spend with my children because I was deployed or distracted or busy, but I can position myself to be able to visit and share once they are more settled.
The boat is already gone. At a loss? Perhaps some would say so, but how do you quantify the lessons learned and the fun I had on the water? No I think it was worth it. The empy house is on the market (again) and I am confident that it will sell. The current house is worth less than when I bought it but we are working to make it better and more desirable to some lucky family in the future. The timeshare, well its in Orlando so if you are looking for a vacation site, drop me a line.
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