This past weekend I opened a box set of CDs that would be considers, if left unopened, worth a few bucks in the years to come.
Since moving back to Texas almost 16 months ago (I grew up here) my parents have given me several things from my childhood that some would consider to be worth some money. I was quite the collector as a kid. 100s of comic books and 10s of thousands of baseball cards have recently been given back to me. All neatly packaged in plastic by the 12 year old version of myself.
The other night I smoked a very expensive cigar that I had been saving in my humidor for a special occasion. I smoked it by myself, on the back porch, while listening to Buddy Holly songs and drinking Irish whiskey. Not a special occasion. Yet, in some ways it was, as I was remembering my brother (who recently passed) and tearing up over stories of our childhood.
I don't like sports cars and I prefer my wife over a 22 year old girlfriend. I am not having a midlife crisis. I am just shifting priorities and embracing a new perspective.
Life is not a packaged set of CDs, a comic book wrapped in plastic or a cigar that never gets smoked. Life is experiencing the pleasure of enjoying those luxuries and memories. Life is about taking the bubble wrap off of yourself and the things around you and realizing their true value.
Too often we put aside opportunities and experiences, to only hope that we can cash them in at a later time. As the years go by, we keep shoving those moments aside in an effort to set ourselves up for a big moment down the road. In many ways, this is fine to do. I am not suggesting you go all anti-Dave Ramsey and start spending your retirement fund on "now" experiences. The mental exercise here simply suggests that if you tag a potential experience with the words "one day when"...it's time to either pull the trigger on it today or get rid of it. Believe it or not, there is a lot of undue stress attached to the things that you will never get around to doing. Items that are set aside for enjoyment often turn into items that bring you disappointment and sometimes pain ( like waiting for a special occasion that never seems to happen). It's healthy to dream, but at some point you need to move towards these dreams or start to walk away.
If you are not taking steps towards your goals and your potential experiences are sitting on a shelf-then it's time to do something with them. Material items can be sold and the gratification of watching someone else spin these things into gold can actually be rewarding. Don't sell the motorcycle...just start taking the steps to finally getting around to it and make sure you stay true to your timeline and goals. Much like you would with your career or other life goals, put the ball in motion so you can start to enjoy the process and finished product before your 90th birthday.
That unopened box of CDs was meant to be heard, comic books are meant to be read, cigars are meant to be smoked, motorcycles are meant to be ridden, goals are meant to be chased and caught and bubble wrap is meant to be popped. Untouched and inexperienced things will never be enjoyed. Be an experience and memory collector and not a collector of "things" (baggage).
