The 5 questions today come from the series of “50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind“. They are numbers 6-10 on the list.
6. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich?
Honestly I’ve never been happier in a job than I am staying home with Isaac. So I guess I would be rich if I could get paid for staying home.
7. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?
I’m doing what I believe is best for our family. I think staying home and raising Isaac is going to make us a stronger family. If I were to be working I would hardly get to spend any time with Isaac and I’d be miserable. A miserable me wouldn’t be good for anyone and it would negatively impact Isaac.
8. If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you live your life differently?
If I knew I’d be dead by 40 when I was young I probably wouldn’t have gone to college. What’s the point of spending 10% of my life getting a degree I’ll only be able to use for 18 years? Unfortunately that would mean that I never met Erin, which would make my life absolutely different.
Who knows what I’d be doing, but it definitely wouldn’t be anything like what I used to do or what I’m doing now.
9. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?
Well I went to the college I wanted, I got the job I wanted out of college, I married the woman I wanted and now I have the kid we planned to have together. So I guess I can say I’ve had a fair amount of control over the course of my life.
Is it what a 14 year old version of me would have envisioned if he’d been asked where he’d be in 15 years? Probably not, but it’s where the 29 year old me is very happy to be.
10. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?
I’m worried about doing the right things the right way. First and foremost I’m interested in doing the right things, because if you’re not doing those then what are you doing?
I was intrigued by your answer to #8 above. I’ve had thoughts on both sides of your answer. In a way I agree in your skip college suggestion based on the logic of degree for short time usage and the respective cost of it all. On the other hand, when I lump the experiences, friends, personal growth (aka finding who I am and who I want to be), activities I was involved with, and learning how to learn… I guess for me, I would definitely go to college for all the qualitative life benefits/experiences. So that leads the question what would I do differently. Hmm, still thinking about that but perhaps idealistically and not realistically, for me I might not change much. Having enough fun as it is now to not want to mess with it. …maybe live in Texas sooner would also be a good answer.
I agree that going to college was a wonderful experience for me, but if I knew as a junior in high school that I was likely to be dead in 20-25 years, there’s a very good chance that I wouldn’t have considered it.
And yes, you should move to Texas sooner rather than later, but that’s just me being selfish.