#I need to stop hanging out in VCs until 3 am | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

keefwho · 7 months

Text

September 12 - 2023 Tuesday

8:55am

I'm having the thought that I don't want to be seen today. I'm having the thought that I won't be able to live up to my own standards let alone anyone else's. I'm having the thought that it's all too hard and I'll never be able to keep up. I'm having the thought that if I don't figure out who I am, I will be left behind. I'm having the thought that I can't show myself around other people when I'm like this. I feel a sinking sensation in my chest. It makes me want to stop trying. It makes me want to hide until it goes away.

3:05pm

What I'm "changing" right now is instead of giving into the urges to scroll twitter, turn on a Twitch stream, or join a discord VC to distract myself, I'm sticking to nothing but music to occupy me while I do my afternoon work. These urges I have aren't things I really want to do, they are just a means to escape how I feel about myself right now. I trick myself sometimes by thinking it's always a good thing to be around people, it means I'm growing a relationship with them. But that might not be true. I struggle to put my heart into most people so spending time with them is more of a chore than anything and because of that I think nothing is really grown or nourished. The truth is right now I feel inadequate and am very likely to self sabotage any activity I pursue. Maybe I just need to sit with myself until I'm in a state more ready to take action.

11:15pm

First of all I'm late to bed because I felt the need to take care of myself more out of stress relief than anything. Probably shouldn't have just because of how late it is. I think really I just wanted to feel something good today.

I had turkey spam, green beans and carrots, and spicy ramen for breakfast. It's one of my favorites. I set up the Vortex mod manager so I can start looking into Starfield mods. I was a little late to stream because I was deciding whether or not I wanted to stream today at all and I decided to which I regretted. I just didn't want to interact today, I felt upset at myself for lots of things and didn't want to show it. Work went VERY slow and my stepdad called me out to help him move big logs halfway through which was annoying. I do like the manual labor sometimes though. I stopped my stream halfway through and very slowly finished it off stream, although I still did it within the maximum time frame. I felt terrible for my performance today.

I cleaned up a little my putting away my clothes and taking the garbage out/cleaning the garbage area. I have a bad habit of half assing cleaning surfaces, I'm learning to do it more properly which does take more time. So I did that and felt pretty good about it. Lunch was fish sticks with mac n cheese and a pear cup. I watched some Chris Chan during my lunch break.

The request today was from someone who had lied to me about their age awhile back in a dangerous way but they are of age now and are a patreon of mine. Today Daisy mentioned how I should have blocked them whenever that happened and I should have, even my friend Bramble said that closer to the time it happened. I wish I did too but I was in an interesting place where I was trying not to cross my business and personal life. Obviously in hindsight even my business should not be associated with someone like that but at the time I had cut them from my social life and allowed them to come back when they turned 18 to start paying me for art again if they wanted. In the end it kinda worked out but I do still feel weird about having them around. But they only talk to me as an artist, I have no desire to actually hang out with them.

I made good progress on this old MLP pic of mine again, it should be done tomorrow. I'm trying to start a new habit where I specify the project I'm going to work on earlier in the day so that I'm not left choosing when the time comes.

After work I played some Starfield until Daisy wanted to play Just Dance. It was a short session because we were so tired. Then we hopped into my server VC which I was looking forward to until a very annoying guy joined and the uncomfortable individual I just wrote about. Daisy wanted me to stream Mother 3 for her which I was happy to do even though I was just grinding the same enemies over and over for awhile. I didn't have anything else I wanted to do specifically so it was okay. The call sucked though because those 2 guys where giving me a headache and wouldn't shut up for half the time. I barely said anything the whole time.

Daisy and I chatted a little bit while she was in bed afterwards. I opened up a little bit about how things have gotten more intense lately and how scary it is, but in a good way. I feel relieved that it's being talked about in this capacity finally, it's like I've been holding myself back because I didn't know if my feelings were being reciprocated as much as they are. I still don't feel like that but that's either because I still need to process it or its my long term issue of self doubt. Either way I consciously know what is true and that gives me the opportunity to make myself believe it.

Today I was very moody in general. I was frustrated and sad at a lot of things. In general I feel like I'm not making as much progress as I want. I've literally failed in the sense that I haven't done a good job of refining my behavior to invoke actual change. I'm still chilling in my comfort zone and I know I am. In some ways I'm afraid to take action and get better because any change is scary to me. Sometimes I feel like it's not worth it even trying because again I think it's impossible for me to be good.

My current formula is to keep trying anything I think of to see it's effects. It's been a lot of experimentation which brings a lot of failure but I cant lose sight that anything I try will teach me something. My current priority of sticking to my schedule and finishing certain projects is being undermined by my lack of self praise for actually doing these things. I think I need to redirect my focus from just getting things done to realizing what I have gotten done. I tend to do things and move on like I never even did them. It's no wonder I feel bad basically convincing myself that I did nothing of note when I actually did.

Another one of my ideas to try is to make a hierarchy of sorts for the kinds of things I can do and the requirements that precede them. To most people this would seem weird and maybe it is but I might be autistic af and this might be my solution. I need to write things down for later or else I will always forget it and repeat the same cycles over and over again.

Edit: I meant to add noting at least one positive thing I did today to counter how I always evaluate my negative thoughts in the morning. Today despite feeling so bad, I did get my schedule done in it's entirety which is impressive. Hours of work got done.

#journal #diary #thoughts #moody #upset #bad day #sad #getting better #self growth

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k3rm1e · 3 years

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I just had this idea, what if Ranboo and reader are besties. However, since Tommy is jealous jelousinnit of Ranboo for “stealing” Tubbo, he “steals” reader in turn and they too become platonically married.

Maybe after Ranboo and Tubbo learn of the Tommy and reader’s marriage, Ranboo and Tommy are now “competing” for time with Tubbo and reader. Meanwhile reader and Tubbo are just laughing watching this play out? <3

-♠️

jealousinnit

-♠️

dvwefnowef i love this idea! i hope i did it justice <3

cw:cursing

tommy vs ranboo:

“hello tubbo! tubbo. tubzo.” tommy yelled again and again, trying to get tubbo’s attention.

tommy continued continued yelling his name for a response. pitying the poor boy, you responded “hi tommy.”

“oh. hello.” tommy made his minecraft character walk over to you. “what is tubbo doing?”

“uh, he’s arguing with ranboo? about something somewhat important, i presume.”

“lore married, those two are. strange, innit?” tommy turned his character to look more directly at yours. the eyebrows on the character made him look intimidating, especially with the way he stared at you.

“yeah. yes. strange. lore married.” the conversation had ended from there, with an awkward silence. after a while tubbo and ranboo had finally stopped fighting.

it had been a few days since your interaction with tommy. everything had been pretty normal, just hanging out with ranboo and tubbo. helping oversee the building of the mansion. that was, until tommy came and talked to you.

“uh, hello tommy.”

“hey. i’m live right now. what are you doing?”

“uh, nothing really. mainly have been overseeing the build of ranboo and tubbo’s mansion.”

“close, the two of you are?”

“yep. i know him irl so i would say, yeah, we’re pretty close.” this was where you started to get a bit questioning. sure, you had spoken to tommy before, but you two weren’t necessarily close.

“hey, y’know what i think.” he turned his character to stare at you.

“no, what do you think tommy?”

“let’s be friends.”

tommy proceeded to drag you around the server, getting to know you better. you two had run around quite a bit, and ended up near the badlands. tommy, of course, decided to bring you into his mischief.

“ok, when bad joins vc, after i say hello you have to say ‘say FUCK badboyhalo’ to him.”

“doesn’t bad always yell language at everyone? shouldn’t i probably not do that?” you had just recently gotten added to the server and even doing certain things for bits made you nervous.

“you’ll be fine. now get ready.” once bad joined the vc, tommy yelled “HELLO BADBOYHALO.”

“well, hello to the two of you. how are you both doing?”

without taking the time to answer you yelled, “BADBOYHALO SAY FUCK!”

tommy immediately began laughing. bad’s character was running around and you could hear him stuttering until finally shouting “LANGUAGE!”

“oh come on, bbh. it just adds more impacts to what you’re saying. imagine you were saying ‘i hate that muffinhead skeppy so much’. isn’t it much more impactful when you say ‘i hate that BITCH skeppy so FUCKING much!’?” even though you couldn’t see his facecam, you could tell how much he was smirking.

“LANGUAGE TOMMY!” bad was screaming and from his voice he seemed to be fuming.

catching onto what tommy was planning, you started for him, “seriously bad, what do you have against saying a few curse words? FUCK, SHIT, BITCH, ASS, PUSSY.” you and tommy both began screaming curse words at bad until you heard him scream and leave the vc.

and for the next few weeks, that was how it went. you two caused chaos all across the server, getting on everyone’s nerves. phil had quickly deemed you ‘chaos gremlins sent to drive him even further into his old age’. at least kristen appreciated the two of you.

“phil, what are taxes?” tommy had asked phil.

after hearing him mutter a quick “jesus christ…”, he gave tommy an answer, “pretty much shit you have to pay because the government said to.”

“and is there any way to pay less taxes? y’know, cheat the system?” tommy was quickly driving phil to old age.

“well, marriage gives you tax benefits.”

“ooo!” tommy turned his minecraft character towards you, “marry me! for tax benefits!”

and so there was a new platonically married couple on the server.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ranboo had noticed your lack of presence. instead of showing up in his streams, you were usually doing something with tommy. the two of you had even gotten married, the same way he and tubbo had. jealousy, even when irrational, was still a very real and present thing.

which is what led him to be standing outside your minecraft house, waiting for you to stop talking to tommy for a second and answer his in chat messages. for five whole minutes, he had to deal with chat clowning on him. “chat, i have never been replaced. they simply cannot replace me. there is no way to get rid of me.”

“you’re like mold!” tubbo had joined ranboo’s vc. his energy heavily contrasted the other’s.

“...tubbo, how am i like mold?”

“you’re just constantly growing on people! holding on for dear life until an exterminator is called! do i need to call an exterminator on you?”

“...no thank you, tubbo.”

finally, you and tommy had joined vc. “hello ranboo!”

“hello! what took so long?” the agitation in his voice was barely detectable.

“oh, tommy here was being pissy. didn’t want to leave vc2.”

“so tommy was stopping you from talking to your friends?” ranboo clicked his tongue and jokingly said, “seems a bit, uh well, toxic, to me.”

tommy quickly erupted into screams. “HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF BEING A TOXIC FRIEND?”

“I WASN’T ACCUSING YOU OF ANYTHING, WAS JUST STATING MY OPINION!” ranboo had started screaming back.

“IF YOU WANNA SEE TOXIC, I’LL SHOW YOU TOXIC RANBOO.” you could distantly hear an 8 bit version of toxic by britney spears playing from tubbos mic.

“OH SHUT UP TOMMY, PLEASE, I’VE BEEN FRIENDS WITH THEM FOR LONGER.”

“BITCH, PLEASE. JUST BECUASE YOU’VE KNOWN THEM LONGER DOES MAKE YOU BETTER FRIENDS. WE’RE MARRIED, WE ARE.”

and from there, the screaming continued. In-game chat, you could see tubbo telling you to join vc6.

“crazy, that lot is.”

“agreed.”

thank you for waiting! i’m sorry this took so long, i’ve been visiting family for easter and haven’t really been able to write. i hope you enjoyed this, though! <3

#♠️ anon #tommyinnit x reader #mcyt x reader #ranboo x reader #tubbo x reader

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gokinjeespot · 7 years

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off the rack #1156

Monday, March 20, 2017

It's the first day of spring but you would still think it's the dead of winter here in Ottawa. I hear it snowed in Vancouver recently too. I don't consider spring starting until I can't see anymore snow on the ground around our neighbourhood. I figure that will be the middle of April this year. I've already seen a robin at our house though. We put up a bird feeder last fall and it attracts many birds. Mostly house sparrows but we see finches, juncos, nuthatches, chickadee-dee-dees and our favourites the cardinals and woodpeckers. The male cardinals are bright red-orange and the females are a mocha coffee colour. We have had downy, hairy and pileated woodpeckers come and feed. Watching the birds outside our window is like watching fish swim around an aquarium. Very calming. Until the undesirables show up. Starlings and squirrels snark up a lot of feed and scare away the little birdies. The squirrels have gotten so brazen now that I have to go outside to shoo them off the feeder. I used to be able to do that just by banging on the window. Stupid squirrels.

We lost one of the greatest comic book artists on March 18 when Bernie Wrightson succumbed to cancer and passed away. I have always been a bigger fan of the art side of our hobby and Bernie's art gave me goosebumps. His pen and ink work was stunning. Rest in peace Mr. Wrightson.

Punisher #10 - Becky Cloonan (writer) Matt Horak (art) Frank Martin with Guru-eFX (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I'm disappointed in Matt. This whole issue takes place at a sea port in Newfoundland and he didn't put one Canadian flag in any of the panels. Even a little one would have been nice. It looks like another dire situation for Frank but the bad guys screwed themselves. You'll see the obvious giveaway, but maybe I'm wrong.

Uncanny Avengers #21 - Gerry Duggan (writer) Kevin Libranda (art) Dono Sanchez Almara with Protobunker (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). If there's a fill-in artist who makes me just as happy to read this book as when regular artist Pepe Larraz draws it, then it's Kevin Libranda. I liked how Deadpool found a way to defeat the Red Skull's Professor X powers. I wonder if they're going to bring back old Charles.

Batman #19 - Tom King (writer) David Finch (pencils) Danny Miki, Trevor Scott & Sandra Hope (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). The art in this issue is pretty awesome. Part 4 of "I Am Bane" has the big bad guy wading through Batman's rogues gallery one by one. Almost every Bat villain you can think of get's his licks in. odd that there are no women. I was also bothered by the fact that they're all loose inside Arkham asylum. How are they going to be get back in custody? The last page leads into the inevitable final battle between Bane and Batman and I want to see who wins. Like I couldn't guess.

American Gods #1 - Neil Gaiman (writer) P. Craig Russell (script & layouts) Scott Hampton (art) Rick Parker (letters). I started a list of books I want to read after the Snail closed because I found myself with a lot of extra time. American Gods by Neil Gaiman is on that list. I've been told what the premise of the book is so I had a bit of background going into reading this first issue of the comic book adaptation. Reading the comic book is going to enhance my reading of the novel when I get around to it because I will visualize Scott's depictions of the characters in my head and they are very nice ones. The back-up story "Somewhere in America" by P. Craig Russell (script & art) and Lovern Kindzierski (colours) was a hot piece of erotica about unsafe sex. This gets added to my "must read" list.

Totally Awesome Hulk #17 - Greg Pak (writer) Mahmud Asrar (art) Nolan Woodard (colours) Cory Petit (letters). This hasn't been a solo book for the last few issues with Amadeus hanging out with his friends but I am still enjoying it. This issue is a good place to start as the team has to figure out a way to save themselves and some civilians from being eaten by aliens. You could call these guys the Asian Avengers because what happens in this issue gives them something to avenge. If you jump on here you won't want to jump off until you read the next issue.

Batwoman #1 - Marguerite Bennett & James Tynion IV (writers) Steve Epting (art) Jeromy Cox (colours) Deron Bennett (letters). Kate chases after a mystery woman from her past after dealing with a terrorist in Istanbul. I like how she's teamed up with Julia Pennyworth.

Kill or be Killed #7 - Ed Brubaker (writer) Sean Phillips (art) Elizabeth Breitweiser (colours). This issue features Dylan's ex-girlfriend Kira, now with purple hair instead of red. I'm glad she's still hanging around because boy does she have problems. We start off during a session with her therapist and get a lot of background. I love this kind of stuff because it makes the characters more engaging. Kira might need an emergency session after she decides to do something stupid at Dylan's place.

Monsters Unleashed #5 - Cullen Bunn (writer) Adam Kubert (art) David Curiel & Michael Garland (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). Okay, Kid Kaiju comes through to save the world from the Leviathon Mother, showing up all the Marvel super heroes. I guess that's why he's getting his own book. Look for it to hit the racks on April 19. Unless it's drawn by an artist that I really like I will take a pass. The Kid's creations are more suited to fans of action figures or Saturday morning cartoons than an old coot like me.

Super Sons #2 - Peter J. Tomasi (writer) Jorge Jimenez (art) Alejandro Sanchez (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). This is great. I don't know why but I love really well written comics about young super heroes like this and Champions. Maybe it's because I can't let go of being a kid. Damian and Jonathan have to deal with Super Lex in order to get a lead on Kid Amazo, the very bad boy they're after. Everything doesn't go smoothly and then, uh-oh, their dads find out about what they're doing. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Wild Storm #2 - Warren Ellis (writer) John Davis-Hunt (art) Steve Buccellato (colours) Simon Bowland (letters). This 24 issue series is very ambitious and there are a lot of players involved. If I was a new reader I would be wondering who are these people? Some people work for International Operations (IO) and some people work for Halo. The two organisations don't like each other and they're both after Angela Spica, the Engineer. I hope that helps with getting into this story. One of my favourite things from the old series was the Door which could transport people to different places. I think we're introduced to a new Door this issue and she's a lot better looking than Lockjaw.

Ms. Marvel #16 - G. Willow Wilson (writer) Takeshi Miyazawa (art) Ian Herring (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I like this story about a malevolent computer virus and it looks like Kamala can't defeat it. That is until she gets a clue from her old pal Bruno. I can't wait to find out how Doc.x gets deleted.

Superman #19 - Peter J. Tomasi & Patrick Gleason (writers) Patrick Gleason (pencils) Mick Gray (inks) John Kalisz (colours) Rob Leigh (letters). Part 3 of "Superman Reborn" looks like it might resurrect the pre-New 52 Lois and Clark. I hope not. That would confuse me to no end and then I would get annoyed and stop reading these amazing Superman books. Patrick draws the creepiest Mr. Mxyzptlk ever. I wonder if they're going to do the saying the imp's name backwards thing?

Guardians of the Galaxy #18 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Valerio Schiti (art) Richard Isanove (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). I love these issues featuring one team member. Angela's up this time around and it's a beautifully drawn fight scene between her and some alien bounty hunter. The issue ends with a major threat heading for Earth. It starts with Th and rhymes with anus.

Spider-Man #14 - Brian Michael Bendis (writer) Sara Pichelli (art) Justin Ponsor (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Nothing serious between Miles and Gwen despite what the cover shows. This is one of those issues that annoy Bendis detractors because nothing really happens. The heroes hop from one dimension to another and each wind up in different ones by the end of this issue. I can easily forgive because of Sara's art.

Mighty Thor #17 - Jason Aaron (writer) Russell Dauterman (art) Matthew Wilson (colours) VC's Joe Sabino (letters). The gods of Asgard and the Imperial Guard of the Shi'Ar finally come to blows in part 3 of "The Asgard/Shi'Ar War". Meanwhile Thor can't seem to win much in the challenge of the gads against the Shi'Ar gods Sharra and K'ythri. Mjolnir is sure getting a workout though. This book is not only chock full of action but it's visually stunning as well.

Amazing Spider-Man #25 - Dan Slott (writer) Stuart Immonen (pencils) Wade von Grawbadger (inks) Marte Gracia (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). I wish you didn't have to pay $9.99 US for this one issue starting off "The Osborn Identity" story. That's a bit much for one comic book don't you think? Sure you get a bunch of back-up stories but none of those really matter to the main story. You do get 40 pages of Stuart and Wade goodness though, so why couldn't they have printed just that and charged $4.99 US? As you can probably tell Norman Osborn is back so the Green Goblin can't be far behind. I did like the team-up with Mockingbird with a hint of Peter and Bobbi possibly becoming more than friends. Here are the other stories that pad this issue. A fight with Clash by Christos Gage (writer) Todd Nauck (art) Rachelle Rosenberg (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters) which has the old "it's not what you think" twist at the end. A silly Tsum-Tsum story for the younger readers by Jacob Chabot (writer) Ray-Anthony Height (pencils) Walden Wong (inks) Jim Campbell (colours) VC's Cory Petit (letters). Thank Thor that was a blessedly short 6 pages. A Parker Industries mishap at their Shanghai facility by James Asmus (writer) Tana Ford (art) Andres Mossa (colours) VC's Travis Lanham (letters). A young Spider-Man story about a boy and his dog by Hannah Blumenreich (writer & pencils) Jordan Gibson (inks) Jordie Bellaire (colours) VC's Clayton Cowles (letters). Some Aunt May gags by Cale Atkinson which were even sillier than the Tsum-Tsum story. And finally to ease the pain of having to buy an overpriced comic book, the return of another Spider-Man nemesis. One thing that "The Clone Conspiracy" did was bring back Otto Octavius, Doc Ock. He now has a youthful body thanks to Miles Warren's cloning process. So meet The Superior Octopus by Dan Slott (writer) Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils) Cam Smith (inks) Jason Keith (colours) VC's Joe Caramagna (letters). He's bad-ass now plus he's got Hydra backing. Here's a prediction: Somewhere in the future Peter and Norman have to team up to fight Otto and Hydra.

Archie #18 - Mark Waid (writer) Pete Woods (art & colours) Jack Morelli (letters). This issue proves that love is blind. Archie and Veronica have nothing in common and should not be together. Betty and Dilton Doiley are more compatible. I wish I was Dilton Doiley.

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ronaldmrashid · 7 years

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Do You Want To Be Rich Or Do You Want To Be Free?

I play tennis mainly at two different locations.

The first location is a public park in the Parkside district of San Francisco. Every Tuesday and Thursday there’s Tai Qi from 8:30am – 10am. Every Wednesday, there’s Zumba blaring in the background from 10:30am – noon. And every Friday there’re beer cans and cigarette butts strewn all over the court, just waiting for players like me to clean them up. The graffitied walls are a nice final touch. It’s the price for being free.

The second location is my tennis club. To join requires a main sponsor, four letters of recommendation, plus a one month vetting period during which any member can black ball you for any reason. The club has an initial member fee of $12,000, after which you pay monthly dues of about $225 – $500, depending on consumption.

The courts are pristine, there’s no noise pollution except for the occasional excessive grunt. Decal chairs adorn the sidelines along with neatly folded towels next to always full water coolers. After a match, players will often get a drink at the bar, play some dice, and then head to the sauna before showering.

It’s obviously much nicer to play at my club than at the public courts. However, I play on the free public courts twice as often. Why is this? Simple. Most people at my club don’t have time to play!

Player Profiles

In San Francisco, the best time to play tennis is between 10am – 3pm. The morning dew has evaporated by then. The temperature is warmer. And you never have to wait for a court because most people are working. Unfortunately, very few people at my club can play during these times.

Even my wealthiest friend who has a nine figure net worth can only play before 9am because he has to be at work by 10:30am. Come on buddy. YOLO! If I was the big boss, with mega bucks, I’d ban meetings before 11am and keep them to no more than 15 minutes.

Here are profiles of four players I recently played tennis with at my club:

1) Top 5 undergrad, Top 3 MBA, entrepreneur, son of a high ranking government official. Age 42. White. 4.0 USTA rating.

2) Big state school undergrad, Top 3 MBA, ex-head of a Private Wealth Management division for a top investment bank, currently a private wealth manager at a smaller shop. Age 52. White. 4.0 USTA rating.

3) Top 3 undergrad, Top 20 MBA, and entrepreneur. Father was head of a private equity business that killed it in the late 90’s. Age 46. White. 4.0 USTA rating.

4) Top 3 undergrad, Top 3 MBA, co-founder of a VC that invested early in the likes of Uber, Airbnb, and Slack. Age 44. White. 4.0 USTA rating.

Clearly all of these players have outstanding academic and professional resumes. Their kids will have incredible advantages and I don’t think any of them will ever have to worry about money. More importantly, they’re also humble and friendly people to hang out with. They have the same problems as everybody else when it comes to relationships, hopes and dreams for their children, doing better at work, etc.

Despite them all working way more than 40 hours a week, I’m always suggesting we play at a more reasonable 4:30pm to avoid the after work rush. But I never succeed because nobody can actually get there by 4:30pm! Even if they commit on rare occasion, there’s always at least two who arrive 15-30 minutes late. By the time we warm up, we often don’t get started until 45 minutes later.

Here are the player profiles of guys I recently hit with at the public park:

1) Didn’t go to college. Works as a wheelchair assistance operator at San Francisco International Airport. Age 43. Filipino. 4.5/5.0 USTA rating.

2) Didn’t go to college. Retired at age 52 after working for 20 years as an IT help technician at the largest retail bank on the west coast. Bought a four unit building 25 years ago and lives off the rental income. Drives a 1986 Nissan 240Z. Age 62. Indian. 4.5 USTA rating. We literally played 32 matches last year.

3) Didn’t go to college. Works as a cook at a Chinese restaurant. Hooks me up with some free dumplings every time I visit his work. Age 38. Chinese. 5.0 USTA rating.

4) Went to a local state university. Teaches elementary school. Age 39. Half white, half Chinese. 4.5 USTA rating.

Guess when we are always playing? Between 10am – 3pm! None of these players make more than $65,000 a year, yet they get to play during the best time of the day because they are either retired or have a late shift.

Further, seldom is anybody ever late. We are constantly playing for 2 – 3 hours a session because we don’t have anywhere urgent to go. Also, notice how all their USTA ratings are higher as well, probably because they get more time to practice.

At my club, the average playing time is only about 1.15 hours because after rushing to the club from work, the players have to rush home to see their families, attend some work related event, or go to some fundraiser party.

“My wife is going to kill me,” is a most common excuse I hear for folks jetting early. Most of the public court players also have families, but their kids are usually in school while they play. Or, their kids are playing in the playground next door to daddy. By the time they finish, they still have plenty of time to run around with their kids and eat dinner.

Which Is A Better Lifestyle?

You can have all the money in the world, but if you have no free time to spend it, what’s the point of being rich? The public court players aren’t poor, they just aren’t very wealthy. Yet their lifestyles are pretty wonderful if you ask me. The private club players also have nice lives, they are just time constrained due to their jobs.

For those of you who are obsessed about getting rich, think really hard about trying to kill yourself so that one day you can live the lifestyle that everyday, middle class people get to live right now. And for those of you who’ve already achieved a comfortable level of wealth, what are you really trying to prove? Making more money when you already have so much more than most people is so meaningless. Take a step back and think about creating more purpose instead.

Here’s what happens when you get richer:

You pay a larger percentage of your income to taxes.

You’re accused of not paying your fair share even though you pay way more taxes than the person accusing you of not paying your fair share.

You’re subject to retroactive taxes voted by people who don’t have to pay more taxes.

Rich politicians pandering for votes demonize you while also asking you for campaign contributions on the side.

The media also demonizes you, even though journalists often come from relatively well to do families, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to afford joining a structurally declining industry.

Expectations of you increase to levels of unreasonableness.

People start liking you for your money instead of your personality.

Somebody always wants something from you.

The demand for your time goes way up.

You can never play in the middle of the day because you’re just too important or too busy.

You can never drop off or pick up your kids at school, let alone hang out with them after because you’re always traveling for work.

You get so wrapped up in your work that you forsake other relationships and interests.

As a high earning corporate employee for 13 years and then as an unemployed writer for five years, I’ve seen both sides of the fence. I can say with 100% certainly life is better earning less! Not poverty level less, just enough to have all your needs and some wants covered.

I don’t miss the fancy meals or business class trips to Asia because at the end of the day, it was still work. I am totally content eating a $2.60 In N’ Out cheeseburger instead of a $80 wagyu steak as well. Further, I couldn’t give a baboon’s ass about prestige or power. Being the Vice President of a company whose main goal is to get you hooked on a sugary drink isn’t very honorable. Running a company that tries to get you to sign up for another 24.99% APR credit card you don’t need is filthy.

The best combination is to probably be rich and free. But even that lifestyle is not much better than that of a regular income earning person who is living a purposeful lifestyle. Appreciate what you have right now. Being rich is not an amazing panacea. Being free with the consistent ability to help other people is.

Readers, do you feel people are wrongly chasing riches instead of freedom? Why can’t we just be happy with our current wealth? Did you ever achieve a magical number you thought would make you happy, only to discover you wanted more because nothing changed? Is it easier to tell people to stop chasing riches if you are already rich?

Shoot To Retire By A Certain Age, Not By A Certain Financial Figure

How To Live Like The Top 1% Without Being In The Top 1%

from http://www.financialsamurai.com/rich-or-free/

#Financial Samurai

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