Balancing Today and Tomorrow — Key to Life, Happiness, and Wealth
Prosperity and happiness require you to learn to manage opposing priorities…
It’s a constant tension.
Present vs. future.
Future vs. present.
Do I spend all my money on the fun stuff I want now? Do I keep it all stashed away for future needs? As kids, we reached for immediate gratification, almost without fail, being extremely present-focused.
Sooner for some, later for others (and perhaps never for yet others), we grow up and realize that if we keep spending like there’s no tomorrow, tomorrow will show up anyway and we’ll face it with little freedom of choice, potentially unable to take care of ourselves anymore, like Aesop’s fabled grasshopper.
“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” — (often attributed to) Chili Davis
The Obvious (but IMO Wrong) Solution
The obvious way to avoid sharing the grasshopper’s end is to be uber-frugal, socking away every possible dollar toward future needs. That’s the path followed by adherents of the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement.
