It’s What You Can’t See That Rewards

I was listening to a podcast recently and the guest was a pretty famous climber who started an organization for disabled climbers.  The conversation quickly turned to Erik Weihenmayer, as it should have.  Weihenmayer is famous in the climbing community and somewhat in general. 

He lost his eyesight at age 13 due to a condition called retinoschisis.  Undeterred, he summited Mt. Everest in 2001 at age 32.  Since then he’s gone on to successfully climb the highest mountain on every continent (aka the Seven Summits), and countless other mountains. 

He’s kayaked the famously treacherous class V rapids of the Grand Canyon, paraglided, and done a bunch of other activities that most with eyesight would never consider even thinking about. 

All blind.

Why?

At one point the podcast host asked the guest “Why would someone climb big mountains and risk his life when he can’t even see the view from the summit?  Why do this?  When he gets to the top he sees nothing.” 

He didn’t ask it in a negative way, it was more of a leading question to what he knew would be a substantive answer.  The guest, who was friends with Weihenmayer and had climbed with him many times said “I’ll tell you what Erik says, he does it because it reveals so much that he can’t see”.

That last sentence made me stop what I was doing and think.  “It reveals so much he can’t see”.

I Never Saw This Coming

At that moment I was sitting in my office at 10-something on a Wednesday morning working on my burgeoning graphic arts business.  An endeavor that now brings in close to $1,000 a month. 

I have a rapidly growing blog with over 300 posts and a new group of friends from it as a result.  Most importantly, I have a new outlook on life and how I approach it – with less stress, more patience, and a dose of unmitigated optimism. 

All of these things came about because I achieved financial independence in my 40’s and was able to semi-retire from my day job.  And all of these were things that, before I semi-retired, I could not have possibly seen. 

Being FI and semi-retired lets me see the world and enjoy experiences in new ways I could have never imagined.  I went in blind, and found that wonderful things awaited.

You Do You

I remember back in 2001 when Weihenmayer climbed Everest.  Sure he was lauded by many for his courage and athletic abilities.  But he was also questioned and even berated by many others. 

They questioned why he would do such a thing when he can’t see the view, as the podcaster did.  Some criticized him more deleteriously claiming he was endangering others for merely selfish reasons.

The truth is he was doing it to experience the unknown.  And being blind, “the unknown” to him is very different.  His other senses, his hearing and sense of smell, are far more acute than ours.  Who are we to question his motives and what he hopes to find?

Maybe he just wants to perceive the world that he’s part of in another way. 

We all need to contemplate why we do what we do, but don’t let anyone throw negativity your way for being frugal and pursuing financial independence.  It’s what you can’t see about FI and a future where you’re not working 60 hours a week at a job you dislike that’s the allure, the prize.  You can only realize it when you get there. 

From my experience, most negativity towards a lifestyle of saving money and being frugal comes from those who know deep down that their excessive consumption and debt are wrong, but are too deep to escape the spiral. 

So if you’re living wise and on the path to FI, ignore the haters and just do what you know is right.  Weihenmayer did just that and kept piling on the adventures.

Lessons

Now that I’ve been immersed in this experiment for almost 3 years I’ve seen how quickly things can change.  Especially when you put hard effort into making it happen.  I’m living now what I couldn’t see then, just three years ago. 

And that makes me stoked for the future.  Unbelievably stoked.    

What exactly I’m going towards I’m not sure, I’ve never been a long term planner.  But I do know that I will be surprised and likely rewarded by the new chapters to come. 

It’s what I can’t see going forward that fills me with anticipation and excitement.  Just like Erik Weihenmayer.