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The things that you think about when you are on your second workout of the day, in the hot sun and tired.
I started to think as I ran past these homes in my area with the BMW's, Benz's and Audi's, 3 car garages and how big these houses are. I started to wonder when is enough enough. Why does someone have to own 3 cars that are over $40,000. Why do they have to own a huge SUV when they do not tow a thing. Why does someone that has one kid need a house with 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and a 3 car garage with only two cars in them. How much debt does someone have to go into to have enough, to keep up with the neighbors. I have a friend that just spent over $50,000 to reno a living room, kitchen and entry that he has owned for less than three years. These things just do not appeal to me. I own a townhouse, a Civic Si, a couple of Ultegra equipped bikes (one road and one tri) and a mountian bike. I could have spent more on the townhouse I bought, the car I bought and the bikes that I bought but that was enough for me. What possesses people to live way outside their income level. Why is it that people have to one up everyone else and have the biggest and best toys. Yes I could afford a lot bigger and better toys but do not understand what drives people to go into debt for 30 years to get this stuff.
See what 3 double workouts in 3 days does to your mind.
What drives people to buy stuff the y can't afford? A society which judges people based on what they have rather than who they are is a prime factor.
Why do you race? For youself? A place of completion? Competition? I am not defending people but if you make a living and put enough aside for your after years why not live a little? Your live a little and theirs are different. Nothing strange or unusual about that. You would have a brand new KM40 T while they would rather have a new 7 series BMW.
Just an observation
What makes you happy is who you are regardless of what you own or are still paying on when your gone.
It depletes you common sense..........
You could live in community housing, share a bathroom and laundry, ride a bicycle that was made by government authorized contractors and take the bus instead of having the luxury you already enjoy.
Liberty is better than equality.
People having the liberty to live the way they want to live, spend the way they want to spend and acquire possessions at the rate and expense at which their greedy and shallow little minds desire is the privilege that this great country affords each and every one of us.
I'll take that over the 'equality' option any day
Don't forget that while you were out riding your bike day after day, other people were busting there asses to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
**All of these words finding themselves together were greatly astonished and delighted for assuredly, they had never met before**
Why mortgage your life for all that useless junk? I s'pose a modicum of consumption is important if you want to be accepted in society (i.e., to get a girlfriend better to own a car; to keep a wife, better to own/wear more than 1 set of clothes). Of course, if someone has USD 1 mil sitting in the bank and a stable income why not splurge on SOME toys (although they should also feel a responsibility to help others less fortunate).
People have a biological drive towards beauty and power . . . in times past, this meant who could chuck a spear the farthest or who looked the hottest bathing by the river, now I s'pose we express it by riding in ridiculous-looking SUVs and wearing $100 hip-hugger pants . . . why do we need deodorant? Why do we need fresh minty breath as opposed to just non-rotting teeth? We are programmed for vanity, man...
. . . but we have MINDS and can escape the consumer cycle if we want to. For me, I am an attorney who just paid off his student loans and now plans to take a year off training in the sun (well, still working part-time!) . . . I want a house, yes, but my wife and I will be happy with a small 3brm . . . I need transport, but a used Civic & pickup truck (for the bikes) will work just fine . . . I need a job, but I REFUSE to do a job I hate until I retire just to show off for my neighbors or look like a hot-shot at my high school reunion . . .
I guess we just need to focus on what minimum level of consumption we really desire (vs. NEED, I don't NEED to compete in Tris or own a bike at all), try to find an opportunity/financing that will allow us to achieve this level, and then just relax & enjoy life. For billions of folks on this planet, it's a struggle just to survive day in and day out. We are LUCKY.
In their dying moments, will those Volvo SUV owners whisper to their wives "I wish I had worked a few hours longer and played less with the kids/spent less time on the bike so we could've gotten the Lexus"? Nope.
How do you know they can't afford it? Maybe some can, maybe some can't. Why worry about it unless they start sending you the bills???
Andy
'You'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Thinsg Are As They Are.'
Sounds to me like your post is about calling attention to your three double workouts in three days. But unless you cashed in and did the fourth event on those days, weren't they kinda wasted?
Aeromon (Aerobic Monster) - Pokomon's evil endurance junkie twin
Of course, it is possible to purchase such vehicles without going particularly far in debt, and the tax laws do encourage you to buy ever larger houses so that your mortgage interest and property tax deductions keep pace with your income. Decide on your own priorities, live by them and don't worry too much about what others are doing.
I have an idea! Work out only once a day. Work a little more. Then, buy more sh%t if that would make you happy.
Why not just be satisfied that you have figured out that the key to happiness is simplicity, and hope that one day everyone else figures it out too?
I'm in the work and spend in a way that makes you happy and doesn't harm others camp.
But I live next to an increasingly spendy resort town. I've seen plenty of obvious tourists who are supposedly on vacation but are still dragged into business calls/ business work on what is allegedly their time off. How much does it take to be worth it to be feeling like you have to work from afar on what is allegedly one of youe two weeks away from the office that year?
(although they should also feel a responsibility to help others less fortunate).
Why?
Yeah, compassion is overrated.
Sincerely,
Alex Keaton