It makes me thing about a few things.
One is, a guy that I met while being in vacation in Cuba.
He was spending quite some time in the ocean, sitting in water up to his neck, and looking at young ladies :-)
We chatted, and he told me he was Jewish. This will relate to what he told further on, knowing that usually Jewish people are very careful about their money.
He told me:
You know, all my friends are saving, and saving, and paying as much as they can at the end of the year toward their mortgage. When I ask them why are they doing this, they say
- So that we can pay the house faster.
- An then ?
- Well, after that we will travel, and stuff, because we have more money.
- So you think that after years and years of being tied up about money, saving every penny, not traveling or taking vacations, you will all of a sudden FEEL HAPPY SPENDING ?

The guy was so right.

Coming to North America, from Eastern Europe, where the bad thing of having more or less same income and opportunities as everyone else, resulted in spending all the money, as there was no purpose in saving them, I learned about a very bizarre concept. That of giving the bird in your hand, for the nicer one that is on the fence.
Chase the dream translates in fact to taking part in the Rat Race. Chasing the peace of cloth that the puppeteers have hanged to a wire that goes in a … circle. Circle again :-)
Young people work while being in school, in university, they work during their vacations. So they have practically no vacations.
I asked them, what will you remember when you will be older. That you worked all the time ?
When they graduate, they try to find …. work.
And work, and work again, selling their youth, for a presumptive happiness when they will be …. old.
I could describe for a long long time the whole facets of this ugly aspect of life in North America, health deteriorating, compromising million of things to achieve the .. dream.
And leave alone the fact that they do not think about how less things one is capable of doing, when they are old. Just because THEY ARE NOT YOUNG ANYMORE. And because, PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN HANG AROUND WITH ARE NOT YOUNG EITHER :-)
That they might not have the health and strength to do those things that they postponed.

But let’s just assume that they will be healthy, and strong.
Still, what is someone that saved some amount of money to retire early thinking about the chunk of money that needs to spend from.
How does that person thing in term of, how am I gonna die ?
Cause if you spend them too fast, and you live the money, you are in deep trouble. Now you did not work for so many years, and you are really, really old, and have to go back to work.
Or if you do not spend them and you die ? Didn’t you sacrificed your youth for nothing ?

On the other hand, if one takes the time to build a foundation, but also have fun while young, then he feels good about having to work when being old. The thoughts are, hey, I had my fun, I have to pay now, by working, but this is something that is a consequence of the decision I made. And I HAD FUN.
On the second hand, being old and working keeps you alert, and … young. And hey, very important, you do not have to think about how to spend the chunk of money. Life is much more simple.

So, I am very, very curious about the .. rest of the story.

Cuidate!!! Bendiciones!!!!

Manuel, oh Manuel… just RELAX… in your garden.

However, more, I feel that the issue is about getting stuck in a rut and this is something that must be guarded of. For those who don’t like the “rat race” or for whom the establishment is suffocating, living in a void or vacuum can become a reality – but that doesn’t mean that there is no purpose or meaning; only perhaps a different rhythm that is Manuel’s way.. a path with different results. Is Manuel happy? Is he working through things honestly and true to himself?