Just recently my neighbors added a water pump for spill-over and it happens to be near my bedroom. I can hear the gentle running water when I open my windows, it’s so soothing. And wait a minute; it’s in the EXACT spot where I wanted to add a waterfall? Wow (insert light bulb emoji here)! The universe just threw something in my lap I wanted for ages. But not as I had envisioned.
None-the-less, the end result was the same; in this example; a gentle waterfall sound right outside my bedroom.
Leading up to my somewhat early retirement I became more and more impatient and I would often joked to my friends and family “I hate people”. I screamed it out once in a forum of FIRE-type’s like yourselves and they all laughed, some in camaraderie.
Urgh, can I JUST rent a 5 acre place with NO PEOPLE for a month? I was craving being alone with no other human heart beats for at least 30 days. I went as far as writing it down on my “to do” list ……… “NO PEOPLE/30 DAYS”.
Welp- you’ve already guessed what happened? COVID…………. it hit shortly after I retired. The universe gave me exactly, and I mean EXACTLY what I wanted. Uninterrupted solace, no other heartbeats except my husband’s for an extended period of time.
I relished in the silence and the “alone-ness”. I needed it. After all, not being around any other humans is what I asked the universe for (insert a selfie of a hermit living her best life here). At first glance, I saw it as ironic in a sardonic kind of way, but in time I embraced it as a once-in-a-lifetime serendipitous event.
Along with the rest of the world; quarantine made me slow down and analyze all the little nuances that were actually blessings in my life, I just couldn’t see them for what they were because I was too busy doing (fill-in-the-blank). I stumbled into “restorative mode” which is actually what I was craving in the first place. Did you feel this way?
Having the uninterrupted guilt-free time to “get with myself”, and to do something about it was truly the biggest blessing of 2020 for me.
The forced isolation was right-on-time. It made me appreciate the friends and family I had, how important loving connections (when I choose them) soothed my soul and relaxed me just as the gentle serendipitous waterfall sounds near my bedroom.
More profoundly, the time alone high-lighted areas in my life that needed serious work with no other excuse not to address them.
I discovered a few more curve-balls (hmm-make that a Disco curve ball) that worked out in my favor.
For many years, in fact decades we desired a beach house, who doesn’t right? For many years we hustled and sacrificed for that beach house. Eventually I came to the conclusion we couldn’t afford it. On second look, what we couldn’t afford was a beach house on the water as I had always envisioned. So, for a hand-full of years we rented a beach house for a few weeks every summer in our desired area where we wanted to buy. The last few years we ended up utilizing a different way of renting. We used this “new concept” called AirBnB.
To make a long story short; 3 years almost to-the-day later, we owned a “beach house”, but it wasn’t on the water (across the street with a beach view) and it wasn’t how I envisioned but better! Not only were we beach-home owners in the desired place, we were getting paid for it by opening an AirBnB of our own! Serendipity!
An obvious one that comes to mind is meeting Mr. D2D. Most of my friends know that I met my husband after I broke my ankle in three places. I was cooped up in my apartment for about 4 weeks straight. If I had never broken my ankle, I NEVER would have been home for that stretch of time to meet him. Serendipity!
Finally, I wouldn’t be writing this blog and certainly wouldn’t have retired early if it weren’t for one of my biggest serendipitous financial blessings; The Great Recession. I’m sure there are many of you out there with the same story.
Hands-down, The Great Recession was the trigger that started me down the rabbit hole of F.I.; not burn-out. It was the best thing that ever happened to my finances! I paid attention!
Having experienced the dot.com boom and bust, I wasn’t going to let another financial crisis get the best of me. So, I doubled-down and in the DocToDisco-way; I took a DEEP dive into all-things personal finance. Now……. here we are. How’s THAT for a plot twist???
Sometimes what we want comes wrapped up in a different package and it’s up to us to figure it out.
Riddle me this, what are your “blessings in disguise” you experienced that are not so obvious?
