But I have a pretty bad habit.
That's always looking at the future.
I always think, "what's next?"
And that's not very good. Cos it prevents me from enjoying the present.
In recent years, I've started to be more chill about "what's next" in life. So I'm trying to living more day to day.
The thing is, I find that, that's what most people do.
Most people have a rough line up of what life has to offer and they just follow the road and just live day to day. Not many people plot a direction and push towards it.
So I see a lot of people... after school, they know they have to work. That's a given.
And they work and expect to work til 60+. They don't think about retiring early or anything. They don't even think about retirement. They just work.
And in between, they may want to find a partner, get married, buy a house, buy a car, have kids, upgrade to a new house, watch kids grow up, then they themselves grow old, then at 60+ they retire and take care of grandkids... Something like this.
And more often than not, most people will just follow this path, they don't think too much about it.
And that's all fine.
And I think most people are happy/contented this way.
Hey I see a lot of my friends and neighbours like this.
And life goes on, they accept their life and the path that is given.
And a lot of people don't really plan this path.
Age plays a lot of part following this path, at a certain age, people get married, have kids, have a 2nd kid, etc, then by around a certain age, they earn enough to upgrade to a new HDB or condo, etc...
For me, I've never really thought about age and following a path.
Well... I did for a bit, but more often than not, I think through things a bit more, instead of just following the textbook someone else passed me.
Like... compared to my peers, friends, neighbours, etc...
I got married later than most of them, don't have kids, am jobless/semi-retired.
I live in a HDB and don't plan to upgrade anytime soon.
(MAYBE I'll think about it in 3 years time due to the previous post.)
What else am I thinking of?
Maybe there's a possibility of moving overseas in the future for short term due to my wife's work?
What will happen to Singapore in the next 20 years? Will it still be as successful?
Would I want to move to other countries in my later years?
The thing is... all these thoughts, won't just happen by itself.
My current life is more or less charted by my wife's work.
But yet, there needs to be some form of ideas or possibilities. So we keep our options open.
It's highly unlikely that she will stay in the same role in the same company until she plans to retire.
So we discuss our options and paths that we are willing to take.
I've told her, since I'm not working, she should develop as much as her job allows her to. If she gets moved overseas, then we go, let's make full use of my lack of employment and expand our horizons. If I were working, then maybe we would need to think a lot more about any career decisions, but since I'm not working, then she should take whatever good opportunities there are.
Let's not "waste" my unemployment. Let's capitalize on it and leverage it for opportunities that other people may not be able to easily achieve.
Like... some people might decide not to go overseas cos their partner can't move along with them, but we don't have such issues.
And I find, many people don't discuss potential paths or think of other options.
When they change jobs, they just find a similar job which pays more and just change companies.
And life goes on as per normal.
And sometimes, I wonder... do others think of moving countries? Going overseas for short term work?
Is it even an option for them? I know there are a lot of people who have worked and stayed overseas before.
But there are a lot more who haven't and they probably will never think of moving, even for a couple of years just for the fun of it.
So I wonder, do people plan their lives? Or do they just live it?
Cos from how I look at many people around me, they don't really plan. They just live it and life just falls more or less into place.
But for me/us, we try to steer it a bit...
Now, I'm not saying we set hard goals that we really need to hit. But rather, we keep a couple of options open with a general end goal. If it happens, it happens, else it's ok as well.
Like, we're ok with our current lives, until 3-5 years time when we might need to upgrade our place.
It's likely that she will want to work til 50+.
But between now til she plans on retiring, we are open to many changes.
Even after she retires, we are also open to moving around.
So I think... do other people plan their future?
Day in day out, I see people just living their life.
Working, buying stuff, year after year, then they pay their mortgage, and when the time is right, they use the paid up home equity to upgrade and take another loan.
This is hardly planning, it just so happened that they paid up the loan and they used the home equity to downpay the next place.
Do other people think about the next 20 years of Singapore?
What if the Government turns bad? Will I be ready to relocate our of the country?
All these need to be planned now and not when something happens. It's not like many people can just drop all their belongings and move to another more stable country at anytime.
BUT... there's absolutely nothing wrong with just following the tide.
And I think maybe it's a better way to live.
I do think that I think too much and it might leave me unhappy or discontented.
And I AM trying to live more in the moment.
So I'm pretty conflicted by this.
I feel it's better to just live in the moment and not think too much into the future.
Cos thinking into the future creates this "desire" or uncertainty of which isn't really conducive for overall happiness.
And yet I would like to plan for the future to be prepared for things which may come in 10 or 20 years down the road.
And finding a right balance of this is pretty tough...
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