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Today, stop for a moment.
Think about the most recent experience you’ve had that money simply couldn’t buy.
Take some time to drown out the noise and really concentrate. In fact, don’t read another line of text until you’ve taken the time to relive this moment. Play it back through your mind.
It’s easy to get caught up in the details of personal finance. It’s recently happened to me. I’ve been so obsessed on our current trip with saving money, hunting a job, haggling with immigration, and searching for an apartment.
All of these are important. But none of them are worth missing out on those small daily moments that make life truly worth living. The moments that no amount of money can buy.
Luckily, Courtney and I were able to catch our latest moment in a short video clip. Recently, at 15-months-old, Milligan has taken up an appreciation for dancing. She’ll dance to just about any song, but she very fond of one particular Blues Traveler’s tune.
Over the last few week’s she’s learned a couple different moves. The bob, the arm wave, the booty shake, and the twist… Here she decides to put them all together:
[Be sure to listen for the duck squeak at the very end]
It scary to think how many of these type of moments I’ve missed while obsessing with financial details or bogged down working for more money. While “getting out of debt” is a worthy goal, it’s nothing if you miss out on “getting into life.”
It’s Your Turn!
That’s it. No huge resource essay, today. No breakdown of the disadvantages of credit cards. Instead, just a short reminder to take time out to ensure you aren’t letting these “priceless” moments pass you buy. If you’re like me, you can always use a little time to refocus.
Lastly, please take the time to share your most recent moments below. It’s my hope that through sharing we can all gain a little inspiration to create even more of these moments in the future.
She’s so sweet! After spending weeks busy with family obligations, we had a chance Saturday to relax and hang with some friends outside and have a chili cookout. Everyone had a good time catching up, playing card, football, or bachi ball. It low key and happy.
.-= Laura´s last blog ..Weekly Round Up: We Decided on a Place =-.
I love those kind of relaxed gatherings… of course, I love chili, cards, and football! Can I come to your next get together? 🙂
Taking evening walks 🙂 In fact, on last nights walk I was thinking just that – it’s one of the best joys and it doesn’t cost a cent! Good post my friend.
J, walking is something we need to do a lot more. My wife loves it, but sometimes it gets put on the back burner. Even a short walk feels great in the evening.
I have to say this is by far one of my favorite posts (perfect for a monday morning especially).
Back on July 5th, I woke before the sunrise. I quietly exited out of the hostel room and walked out onto the Esplanade, camera in hand. I walked around the still pool and waited for the sun to rise. As the sun creeped over the hills and harbor, I took some of the best pictures in my favorite place in the world—Cairns Australia. That was the last morning I had in Cairns as I headed back with friends in tow to Sydney of which we departed also from a few days later.
That moment of silence and stillness and the strength of the sun was awe-inspiring.
I know you, Adam, have been there but were rushed. If you ever get the chance, try to get back to Cairns and watch the sunrise at the Esplanade. It’s one of those priceless moments.
Dave
LifeExcursion
.-= Dave´s last blog ..10 Financial Websites to Check Out =-.
Dave,
Definitely. We REALLY want to get the chance to stay up in the Townsville/Cairns area some more. Our time there was just cut too short. In both cases, the Esplanade and the Strand were our favorite places. I’m sure the sunrise is mesmerizing!
My daughter (2 years old in a couple of weeks) making lots of “calls” with her plastic croissant. Mind you, she had a couple of perfectly good toy phones, but she really likes like croi-phone 🙂
.-= kosmo @ The Casual Observer´s last blog ..But He Had Killer Ratings! =-.
Haha, that’s awesome. It’s so funny what they choose to play with sometimes.
Going into our living room/playroom yesterday and watching my toddler son sit at his play table and “read” several entire books.
Milli is getting into reading too, which I obviously love to see. She’s not quite to the point where she’ll “read” by herself, but sometimes will carry around her books with her. I love it!
First time commenter . Love the blog so far
After working and studying for about 12 hours a day from Mon-Sat, my wife and I were able spend this Sunday engaging in some of our favorite activities. Which consists mostly of cooking, walking, talking, reading, watching a movie, etc… it was a great Sunday.
.-= RJ Weiss´s last blog ..Personal Financial Plan – Phase 2 =-.
RJ, thanks for coming by and commenting! Sometimes all we need is that one day to recharge the batteries. At times, though, I find it easy to get distracted even on a Sunday. I love it when I can focus enough to relax… does that sound weird?
I’ve been trying to be more “present” in life like you’re talking about instead of constantly worrying about what to do next. For some reason I find it hard to just sit still and enjoy myself, but I’m working on it.
My 2 year old son has also discovered dancing, he’s always asking me for “music” when we’re sitting around playing with toys. He also plays a mean air guitar. Those times, and asking for “piggy rides” (piggy-back rides) are some of my recent favorites.
You summed up the dilemma very well. Working myself on just being still and enjoying it. Isn’t that age, sweet? Milligan’s just started to head into toddler phase and although I’m bracing for the worse (attitude wise), I’m excited to see what she has in store!
I drove though Manhattan this morning and made it to Brooklyn and I’m still alive. And, seriously, I appreciate that every. single. time.
.-= JN Urbanski´s last blog ..Camping =-.
Wow, I can’t imagine what that commute is like! How do you keep your sanity?
I think it’s important to have a sense of humour!
.-= J.N.Urbanski´s last blog ..Camping =-.
Haha, for sure.
A recent priceless moment I’ve had was connecting with a young girl from my church. She has never met her father b/c he wants nothing to do with the responsibility of raising a child. I have tried to step in a be a father figure to her and the other day she told me he loved me. That really almost made tears stream down my face. That’s something I’ll never forget and shows that giving (even your time, not always money) is better than receiving.
.-= Torrey´s last blog ..Athletes: Role Models or Just Entertainers? =-.
Powerful stuff, Torrey. Thanks for sharing. I’ve not had the chance to be a role-model for very many people, but from limited experience I know it’s one of the most rewarding experiences out there. By the sounds of it the young girl is lucky to have you in her life!
Your daughter is adorable. We had a similar post over on our blog last Friday:
http://www.savings.com/blog/post/Priceless-Freebies.html
Great minds, eh?
Today I took my 4 children to a nearby lake with my neighbor and her kids. It’s 90 degrees and overcast. On the way there it started to lightly rain, and never stopped raining. We stayed, swimming, having a picnic, and building with wet sand for 3 hours, alone at the state park beach. The kids said it was our best trip yet. Even the 18 month old loved swimming in the rain.
I took a long walk last night in the extreme heat and humidity and enjoyed just as much as a nicer weather day. also, i kayaked last weekend from a town boat ramp in my hometown, so cost me nothing. Very enjoyable and will do it again this weekend.
Watching my 3 year old son on a carnival ride. Priceless.
First of all – not only is that priceless, but the kid’s got good taste. Yeah John Popper! 🙂
My moment was simple – wading hand-in-hand with my 9-year-old daughter on a rock beach off Cape Cod, the first time either of us had ever been there, while my husband took our photo. We had walked more than a mile down a trail to get to this one stretch of undeveloped beach, but it was SO worth it, especially when my daughter said how beautiful it was.
.-= Joan´s last blog ..These are purple eggs! =-.
This is a great blog – all I can say.
P
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I love your blog! I’ve referred to it a few times recently in some of my own posts… and my most recent one was on this very subject! 🙂
My moment was this weekend… we had a hurricane on the east coast. My fiance and I headed down to the water to check out the waves. We had a little photo shoot and had so much fun with it… really connecting and enjoying the sound of the waves… 🙂
.-= Melissa´s last blog ..Just a Reminder =-.
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Things have come to a head financially for me. We were on a family vacation this summer with my wifes family. I had one eye on the bank account the whole trip. Then it happened. I overdrew. $125 dollars down the drain. I needed to make a cash deposit (which I should have made before the vacation.) I prayed that my last $200 would be enough to cover any more overdrafts and get us though the week. I would worry about paying the credit cards on time when we got home.
I got the cash and made a deposit at the nearest branch. It was only 15 miles away but vacation traffic made the trip an hour. The kids were wondering why we were wasting a day going to the bank. My wife and I had talked about if our marriage would survive through this tough time.
That drive brought us near the beach where I proposed to her 18 years earlier. We had never revisited that spot. She remembered the exact location. The kids wanted to play in the waves even though they were in their clothes. We said sure. My wife and I sat on a rock watching the kids and sunset. Tears in our eyes. Not much was said but what we did say was said slowly, almost gasping for words, trying to avoid all out melt down. We remembered the dreams we talked about that day. Mostly about having kids and starting a family. She had told me before I proposed that she did not care where we were as long as she was with me. There were no dreams of financial success (or ruin) when we started out. Just being in love. That was and is the important thing. It was a day where we we renewed our vows in a way.
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