I learned from a young age that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Too many people I know whom I saw one day and seemed fine, and were gone the next (or even later that day). I saw enough violence and death at a young age to think, back then, that if I made it out of my teen years I would be lucky. Even after college, within 5 years of graduation I had lost several good friends I made there, including one of my roommates.
So my perspective for a long time is to be grateful for every day that I have. I am blessed to have made it so far, every day is gravy as far as I am concerned. In addition, I have had 2 health issues that, had they not been detected early, were high odds to have given me a chronic illness and probably shortened my life.
My parents also gave me a good perspective on death. It was not a subject they kept away from, and they discussed it with us kids many times. Both had illnesses before their death - but both were thankful though those illnesses. I still remember my Dad smiling in his terminal cancer and saying how blessed he was that his children would outlive him, so many of his friends had lost at least one child. I remember my mom feeling blessed that she lived long enough to see the grandchildren that were born just before or after my Dad died graduate from high school and start college.
DW and I go to college reunions, and the "remembrance" ceremony, where names of dead classmates are read, gets longer at a greater rate at every reunion. We accept that, and with gallows humor know that one names will one day be part of that ceremony.
One of my big efforts is not leaving a mess when I go for DW and/or our kids to clean up. So things like wills, directives, where things are located, etc. are all taken care of. I also minimize buying a lot of stuff, as at my age I have to consider "what happens to it once I am gone?"
The point about stressing out about little things is a good one. That is one reason I do not have "pet peeves". Why waste the relatively little time I with those things, instead of enjoying the many "happy moments" I have while I can?
I enjoy all the discussions about when to take SS, CDs vs Treasuries vs Corporate Bonds, the best AA, the best SWR, Roth conversions, RMDs, etc. But I do sit back and smile and stay thankful for problems like these
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