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Customer died suddenly - perspective
Old 06-23-2014, 08:44 AM   #1
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Customer died suddenly - perspective

Found out today a customer of mine who wasn't responding to emails died suddenly. He was in his prime earning years.

Then I happened upon this in facebook....

*******************

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

*******************

My greatest fear is I die before really having ample time to enjoy the fruits of my labors. (well, that, and spiders)
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Old 06-23-2014, 08:57 AM   #2
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Pretty good advice from the Dali Lama but not applicable to all, most but not all.
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Old 06-23-2014, 09:15 AM   #3
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I think the Facebook post is a good reminder to seize each day. I came home from having my hair done last week to find out a friend my age had died unexpectedly.
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Old 06-23-2014, 10:01 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dallas27 View Post
Found out today a customer of mine who wasn't responding to emails died suddenly. He was in his prime earning years.

Then I happened upon this in facebook....

*******************

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, he said:

“Man.
Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”

*******************

My greatest fear is I die before really having ample time to enjoy the fruits of my labors. (well, that, and spiders)
I have a little bit of fear in doing so, too. But while I am doing OMY and preparing for RE, I am enjoying (at least die trying ) my life as if every day is an RE day. You may say, I am practicing retirement.

Case in point, DW & I play golf 2 - 3 times a week. More often than not, our playing partner will ask how often we play. When they hear "2 - 3 times a week," they often ask "are you retired?" question. I smile and tell them that we are practicing retirement.

One thing I've noticed, I meet a lot of folks at our home golf course who clearly have better career/job than I have. Yet, early retirement is not in their card. Either they love their job so much or have not saved enough to contemplate retirement, or both. Perhaps, they should have audience with Dalai Lama.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:30 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by robnplunder View Post
ou may say, I am practicing retirement.

Case in point, DW & I play golf 2 - 3 times a week. More often than not, our playing partner will ask how often we play. When they hear "2 - 3 times a week," they often ask "are you retired?" question. I smile and tell them that we are practicing retirement.
Very wise.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:34 AM   #6
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I like that Dalai Lama quote. A lot of wisdom there. There's a lot of irony in life.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:40 AM   #7
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My mother would have been a fan of the Dalai Lama if she knew much about him. One of her most famous sayings when confronted with buying cheap food or not doing something fun was "Enjoy yourself. Otherwise, you'll just give it to the doctor."

No offense meant to the doctors in the group.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:43 AM   #8
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Actually reminds me of my choice to RE. I had fully planned on OMY, corporate bs became unbearable. I truly wondered what this was doing to my health. I'd seen too many pass way too young, that thought helped my call it done a month later.
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Old 06-23-2014, 11:48 AM   #9
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Never seen a 'bad quote' from the Dalai Lama...
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Old 06-23-2014, 12:35 PM   #10
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I have a little bit of fear in doing so, too. But while I am doing OMY and preparing for RE, I am enjoying (at least die trying ) my life as if every day is an RE day. You may say, I am practicing retirement.
+1

I have also decided on OMY, but have also decided to "practice retirement" during that time. Working at home more, going to the gym during lunch breaks, turning off the work computer after 5 and all weekend - these little things make a big difference.

I also like golfing, and with several very affordable golf courses and driving ranges 5-20 minutes from our home... well, I have no meetings today after 4PM so I plan to go do some more "retirement practicing" at that time.
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Old 06-23-2014, 12:35 PM   #11
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never seen a 'bad quote' from the dalai lama...
challenge accepted!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:02 PM   #12
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Yeah, this sort of thing is why whatever my hesitations were about taking the plunge I wanted to at least try it and see how it goes.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:05 PM   #13
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Yeah, this sort of thing is why whatever my hesitations were about taking the plunge I wanted to at least try it and see how it goes.
It's a scary thought right? "Let's see if doing what I want instead of what other people tell me to do is better".

Sounds stupid that we even ask it. I guess the real question we ask is can we sustain doing that financially.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:05 PM   #14
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I'm sorry for your loss, Dallas27.

A good friend who was my age died suddenly a year ago. (I posted here how it made me put into perspective the fragility of life.) It definitely hits you hard when someone you know, a peer in terms of age, life stage, suddenly passes.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:13 PM   #15
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A big turning point for me-

A friend of mine at the old w*rkplace- Planned to retire in about 18 months. The company was running him around the world trying to straighten out the messes from outsourced manufacturing. Went out toes first. As I was flying back from India, I decided that it was time to look after myself a bit more and let the company take care of its MBA generated problems.

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Never seen a 'bad quote' from the Dalai Lama...
And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:13 PM   #16
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I'm sorry for the loss. It is a lesson we all seem to have to learn individually through the loss of a good friend and/or love one.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:15 PM   #17
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I just had a female renter die at the age of 51. Way too young. That's why I am not waaiting too much longer to FIRE.
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Old 06-23-2014, 01:23 PM   #18
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Once I reached FI, I too began "practicing" RE. I stopped most of my worrying about w*rk. I stopped taking any w*rk home. I stopped taking phone calls from w*rk. I stopped virtually all OT (used to be "whatever the j*b demands.") I figured if they got tired of me they could always FI-RE me. I finally quit the OMY treadmill when I got an assignment I didn't want to do and which would have crimped my FIRE "practice".

Many philosophers have offered similar sentiments to the Dalai Lama's. As the years rushed on, I began heeding them more and more. A favorite of mine - which doesn't hold a candle to the DL's poetic saying - has a good sentiment all the same. "No man on his death-bed wishes he had spent more time at the office."
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Old 06-23-2014, 04:08 PM   #19
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Got a brother who is at odds with his spouse (probably future divorce) with the meaning of success and how to life the rest if his life.

Him..retired an enjoying the freedom ...fish, eat, more fishing

Her..work, earn more, work, earn more and more work.

Each has a different meaning of success. He feels that he's paid his dues and you can't take what you earn with you. Her... I think according to her, her work and wealth accumulation defines her success and she isn't willing to leave that life.

I guess...it's all in a matter of perspective. If you work and work then die and have oodles and oodles of money one person may say that's a success story while others say that's a terrible shame.
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Old 06-23-2014, 04:19 PM   #20
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Her..work, earn more, work, earn more and more work.

Each has a different meaning of success. He feels that he's paid his dues and you can't take what you earn with you. Her... I think according to her, her work and wealth accumulation defines her success and she isn't willing to leave that life.
One my uncles has the same perspective. To him, money, and accumulating more money make his day. He just doesn't know or care about how else to spend his time (or money). If he does spend his money, it is mostly on material (fancy car, expensive ring, etc) and not on "experience." Then again, if that makes him happy, so be it.
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