So much of our life seems to go on autopilot, without intention. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve driven to work or somewhere else only to arrive without being able to recollect the drive at all. It is a bit scary that you can “check out” like that right in the middle of living your life. But we do it all the time. How often do you ask yourself “what should I do today?”, or do you get up in the morning and do the same things you always do to go to the same places you always go?
As I move down the road toward the “R” in FIRE (I’m already FI, and too old to RE), I find myself more and more drawn to the idea of living intentionally. I know that I should have been doing that my whole life, and if I could go back in time it is something I would tell my younger self (better late than never though, right?), but the truth is my life has been punctuated with intention, but lived largely without it. My legal life has been, for the most part, intentional, but even there “sameness” creeps in. The law is based on precedent, meaning you look back at how things were done before, and do them that way now. There are really good reasons for that, but it can lead to, in some cases, a rote response to work. I’m going to do the same thing on this matter that I did on a similar matter before. That is just how it is done.
But when it comes to my life outside the law, I don’t think I want to live based on precedent. I want some newness to it, to experience things differently – not completely differently, but with a bit of spice. So I’ve been thinking, what would my perfect day look like? What would I do? Where would I go? Who would I see? I understand that you can’t live the same day over and over again unless you’re this guy
but I thought it a good exercise and it might become a template in what a normal day would look like, when I’m not doing this.
Up Not Too Early
As I get older I tend to go to bed at a more reasonable hour. As a result, I also get up a bit earlier than I would have chosen to do 20 years ago, but still well after the sun is up. In my perfect day template, I’m up around 8 or 8:30 having had a solid 9 hours or so of sack time. Coffee is always the first order of the day (well, not the first, but I don’t need to go there – see what I did there?). I would have a couple of cups of coffee either in the sun room, or if the weather is nice on our deck or porch swing. I usually check my email and catch up on what people are saying on the blogs I follow.
A Bit of Exercise
Not going to go crazy here. Perhaps a half hour to 45 minutes of walking on the rail to trail behind our house and a few brief reps with some dumbbells. Never more than an hour, hopefully less, of exercise. I would multi-task a bit here by listening to a book on while walking (I’m a huge consumer of recorded books – probably listen to 15-20 per year).
Chores
(this is not me, but how I see myself in my mind’s eye – cue Mrs. Oldster’s laugh)
Our house is on a couple of acres, a lot of which is grass and garden. I also do most of the dishes and laundry in the family (I find it cathartic). Doing a bit of whatever chore was up to be done, would by my next task.
Freshen Up and Eat
By now I would need to lather, rinse and repeat. After that, I’d make some lunch. I’m not a breakfast person and try to only eat between 1 pm and 9 pm. This is not a hard and fast rule, but I find that I feel better if I restrict my eating window to a set time.
Me Time Activities
One of the issues I have in planning for retirement is what I’m going to do with free time. By “free time” I mean when I’m exercised, showered, fed and my household tasks are complete. I expect this “free time” to take up most of a given day and I have some idea of what I’d like to spend it on, but for now suffice it to say the next several hours would be spent by reading, writing, woodworking, art of some type or volunteer activities, either by myself, or with Mrs. Oldster, depending on what her schedule allows.
Dinner and Cocktails
Time for an evening libation and some healthy dinner. Usually Mrs. Oldster is the chef in our family (and quite a good one too), but I think I might like to try my hand at a few simple and healthy dishes. I was single for 30+ years and managed not to starve, so I imagine I could cobble together some eats now and again and give my lovely bride a break.
Evening Relaxation
We enjoy movies and good television, so after dinner we would likely partake of some quality entertainment over a glass of wine (or two). We might spend some time with an open bottle at the fire pit overlooking the river if the weather allowed and we were in the mood. Regardless of what we did, we’d spend the evening together sharing some time together and talking about our day.
Bringing it All Together
I think there is enough room for variation in this day plan that I could live that life and not get bored. Especially when punctuated by occasional travel, summer baseball games, and satisfying our penchant for things Disney.
What would your perfect day be?
Until Next Time, FIRE On! – Oldster
