The Epiphany or How to be a Time pimp

The light bulb going off. The a-ha moment. The "come-to-Jesus" meeting. Eureka! No matter how you express it everyone has that defining moment in their lives when something just clicks in your brain. Either you get fed up or you feel so at ease and suddenly it all makes sense. I touch on it a little bit in my first post (click here to read it) but I've come to this realization through several small moments in the last few months.

This past June I took a vacation with my family to Myrtle Beach. It's tough for me to get vacation time at my current job so until a few weeks before I didn't even know if I could go. Luckily part of the vacation was scheduled around my current off days and I put in for the remaining time with plans to see a Boyz II Men show (the best group EVER. Fact not opinion).

This turned out to be one of the best trips of my life. I'm neither an early riser nor an exerciser but for every morning on this 5 day trip. I got up at the crack of dawn without an alarm to go out for a jog on the beach. One morning my son got up with me and we flew a kite. I ate at least 4 plates of crab legs. I bought a new jacket on the cheap at the Ralph Lauren outlet (I LOVE Polo.) I played mini-golf with my son and my parents. I rode the tallest Ferris Wheel on the east coast. It was something I really needed.

On the last night the moon was full and high in the sky. My son was off with his granddad with flashlights searching for hermit crabs. My aunts were wandering the shore near by. I sat on a beach towel with my mom watching people shoot off fireworks. There were murmurs about wishing we could stay an extra day. I didn't know when I would be able to do something like this again.

That's when I had that moment; a resounding pivotal moment about time. I looked at time as a commodity. As an employee I put my time out on the free market. I sell my time to my employer in exchange for money. I have to then lobby my employer to get back the time I sell to them for my own personal use. Does no one else find this idea the least bit problematic?? Does no one else see major parallels to prostitution here?? You have to get clearance from your boss to get back your own time!!! Meaning your agreement to work for them in turn gives them the right to deny you the use of your own time. Ain't that a bitch??? But there is a way around this.

Rather than spending my whole adult life trading my time for money I am taking steps to make my money work for me. Money is the best employee there is; it works 24x7x365 and never calls in sick. Saving is great but that alone won't get you a return worth not having to lease out your time. Early retirement is a pretty lofty goal for me, especially since I'm halfway toward mid-life status, but it is what it is. I'd like to at least be semi-retired by 40, allowing my money tree to grow and bear enough fruit to live off of and to regenerate itself time and time again.

Money betta have my money!