Yep … I have tripped on a few rakes myself.

At this point I fully understand life is not about money. I currently earn much less than I did in many former jobs. I ended up taking a lower level software developer job after the economic downturn of 2008. Now that I am nearing retirement I am living comfortably. I will enjoy a larger Social Security check than my current salary would have given me due to higher salaries in the past.

I have actually learned how to “rejoice” in my reduced salary in recent years because it has given me much more freedom. I know (unless Social Security goes bankrupt in the USA) that this will be a comfortable retirement financially because I have learned to live on it easily. Yes the house is smaller and the new cars are not very frequent but that seems to not matter now.

This lower level job has also let me relax and enjoy life more outside of work. Previously work drove me to be much more immersed beyond 8–5. Now I can go home and enjoy my life outside of work.

Two of my favorite quotes:

“An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered; an adventure is an inconvenience rightly considered.” — G. K. Chesterton

“No amount of anxiety makes any difference to anything that is about to happen.” — Alan Watts

So when those rake handles hit you in the head check the lumps and bumps to see if you have learned anything.