Have any of you had the experience of having FIRE making oneself confron the reality of some long - held dreams? One thing I hadn't anticipated after FIRE was acknowledging the likelihood that some dreams may go away. I guess it was easier while w*rking to put off thinking about the pluses and minuses and just hoping things would happen.
And it's certainly not ALL dreams, just a few that I can now cast a more realistic gaze at.
One is camping. I've only camped a couple of times in my life. My family were not campers, and I never had a boyfriend who camped. I enjoyed my couple of experiences camping a lot, and I think I could get into it - the campground life, trying to cook fancy stuff over a campstove, play cards, making acquaintances. I already do a lot of walking and hiking, so that isn't an issue. Along the way, I acquired a nice tent and backpack and sleeping bag - none ever used. Well ... I am an over-62 female, have hardly any experience camping, can't even build a fire or pitch a tent. I may have missed my window! Since I am unwilling to really put the amount of effort it would require to catch up on camping expertise. This dream just may not happen.
A second one is more externally driven. A vegetable garden. I've had a vegetable garden for 20 years, just not a very good one. Now my Homeowner's Association has decreed: no vegetable gardens. I appealed, but was rejected with one sentence. Probably no one even read my appeal. I had dreamed that when I FIRED, I would finally have the perfect little vegetable garden, but today I took out the weeds and my remaining vegetables, except for on cherry tomato plant. Probably have to take that out too. But ... my plot was becoming progressively less viable as neighboring trees grew and cast more shade. I've considered three options - taking a community plot somewhere, moving my gardening further to the rear of the property, where there is a wild field, or severely downsizing into a few containers. But I know I'd never keep up a plot if I couldn't walk to it, and the wild field would mean constant assaults from weeds and animals, and the containers aren't really gardening. So that dream is either going away or going on hold until I move - and it's even less likely to happen if I am older.
Well, I have plenty of other dreams. How about any of you? Did you find that even after FIRE, you just couldn't make some dreams happen?