Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Will this make me happy when I'm 60?

In line with the title of the blog, I occasionally become obsessed about things I can do today that will make me happiest over the long run. It's difficult to keep some of these habits up for a sustained amount of time, but making an effort really helps me focus on what's important and where my time is best spent.

Lately, the big (non-work) project has been keeping the journal up to date. While I've written before (and especially on trips), since the start of this year I've made every effort to have something unique recorded about each day. While some say every day is nearly the same (and for some, perhaps that's sadly true), with a little effort you'll start to notice nuances and what you're most likely to want to remember later. I was partially motivated to undertake such a project because of a post I read on the bogleheads investing forum (weird, I know). In a thread about where you were on a certain date in 1997, the post goes like this:

My diary says that on this date in 1997 my 5th grader had his best friend spend the night. The next morning I fixed breakfast for the two of them and my 2 year old son (pancakes and sausage). When the 2 older boys left the table before my 2 year old was finished he threw a fit (and pancakes) then chased them thru the house. My wife later took the older boys to see Return of the Jedi while I stayed at home with the little feller.

The 5th grader is now 23 and working, recently graduated from Ball State University. The best friend is working on a PHD at Tulane University. The little fellow is a 6' (and growing) 8th grader. My wife, unfortunately is no longer with us (cancer, 2000).

My most prized possession is the collection of diaries from 1980 which records every day of my life and my family since that year.

I am in my same house, just the two of us and sometimes at night I look at the bookshelf containing those 29 volumes and wonder...where in the heck did the years go?

Time to write about today.

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