Really, was that 8 years ago??

I spend a lot of time thinking.  This is not necessarily a bad thing as it's both free and does not get you too many strange looks on the tram.  Recently I was thinking about the pursuit of happiness and why it seems to be so difficult to get the age-old balance of money, time and health to balance?   This is not a new thought for me, or indeed anyone else, but life does seem to get in the way of actually actioning anything specific.  During this use of tram time, I remembered I had once started a blog on this subject, or at least I thought I had.  It's odd when you are not entirely sure if you are recalling something you actually got round to doing or if you just thought really hard about the idea but never did anything about it in the end.  So today, a quiet Sunday morning where Dear Wife has gone to the gym, I thought I would see if I had indeed started a blog or whether my memory was just playing tricks on me.  Eventually, after much hunting through likely blog sites, e-mail addresses and trying to remember passwords, I found this blog.....from eight years ago!

So what has changed in 8 years?  Well, wrinkles have certainly increased, as has incursion by grey hair colouration.  Weight is pretty much the same, as far as I can remember.  During that time the kids have each flown the nest and then moved back in (with partners) and then flown the nest again, each time making deposits of various items of 'stuff ' that they still want but don't have the space to store.  My job has changed - less money, more holiday, less stress but wayyyy more politics - overall a net gain however.  I have also actually started the process of downsizing my life, ready for the time when either I choose, or have chosen for me, another change of employment status.  But here's the thing, in those 8 years since I made those first few blog posts, the question still remains, what is the answer to the money vs time balance?  Even more now than then, and with a far less stressful job, I still feel that my time spent at work is simply an exercise in swapping time for money.  I don't hate the job, truth be told I really quite enjoy bits of it, but ultimately I am simply trading hours for pounds...and increasingly I am resenting the trade.

I certainly don’t want to retire in the ‘pipe and slipper’ sense, but I do want to tip the balance of the time vs money see-saw more in favour of ‘time’ and I need a plan.  I don’t want to let another 8 years slip through my fingers, truth be told I don’t want to let another 8 months drift away.  Time waits for no man, etc and 8 years as a luxury that none of us know if we have.   I need to have a think about this, a really good think……..then I need a plan.