August 31, 2021
Yesterday, I stumbled on this article of @FarmGirl about Our Five Fs which she learned after watching a video regarding Journaling As A Tool To Become A Millionaire. The same with FarmGirl, I also stopped writing in my journal long ago due to busyness and I focused more on blogging instead of journaling. That became my way though of coping up with depression way back but then I stopped when I found a great platform where I can express more my thoughts and where there are people who are willing to listen to me. Their feedback is something that really matters to me. But these two, journal and readcash, are my important tools for coping with anxiety and depression.
Back on track. As I have mentioned above, FarmGirl talked about her Five Fs which stands for Fitness (Health), Family, Friends, Fun (Entertainment), and Finance. And as I have said in my comment, the main reason why I opted not to extend my contract at work is to achieve my goal in the aspect of Fitness so I can fulfill my other goals.
Now it's your time to contemplate....
Are you minding your Five Fs?
People sometimes just focus on one aspect and forget the other important aspects of life due to their eagerness to pursue things they want to achieve. And those who are struggling with their everyday lives tend not to mind important aspects at all. However, these aspects should be put into consideration to have life equilibrium.
Finance
This is the aspect that we always thought is the most important one. As we step into the world of adulthood, our mindset changes like how the world grows exponentially. Not all are born with silver spoons so they have no choice to step out of their comfort zones and face the potential risks, sometimes, even follow the wrong path. And we typically thought our goal in life is just to wake up every day to do our work to support our needs.
Just like anybody else, it has been my mindset too. Because if I don't mind Finance, then I won't be able to survive in this world. I can't call my family rich, but at least we are not at the bottom. We have a farm that gives us simple food on our table. My father is receiving a monthly pension, my mother has a small business, and some of my siblings are working, but not really enough to support our big family financially. If we will only mind our stomachs, then it's not a big problem at all, just like what @emily2u has said, having financial freedom is to have a sizable nest egg and have our daily expenses covered, like our food and other necessities. That's it!
But we are in a new era where everything has labels and price tags. Aside from providing food on our tables, we need to mind the tuition fees, the monthly bills, the insurances, government contributions and tax, the mortgages, and other daily expenditures.
We are working hard for the sake of our family and to pay the bills. And sometimes, nothing is being left for ourselves but just a single penny.
Family
It feels so good to see our family healthy and happy because of our hard work. They are our main inspiration for why we are grinding and hustling more.
If I will describe my family's situation, my father's retirement seems to spend more on doing his hobbies, planting, taking care of his animals (goats, dogs, cats, chickens, even added fish and bird pets, and no more ducks and pigs), and cycling with his friend. Meanwhile, my mother is just really at home and seems not to be done yet with her responsibilities. My younger siblings? They are all busy with zoom and modules, and mobile games in their spare time. The thing I hate the most.
Am I close to my family? Literally yes but figuratively no. We are close in the sense that we are family. But figuratively not close since I am always away to work and only visit them occasionally.
That's the thing I want to point out here. We opted to be away from home to work for the sake of our families. We often have less quality time with them, because we spend more time at work. And in some worst cases, being busy at work and giving less quality time to the family is sometimes the reason for separation and divorce. Thus, shattering their home and family into pieces. And in this case, it's not only their family that has been broken but themselves as well.
Friends
Aside from family, we less often jam with our friends because of being so productive at work. Lucky those who have real friends at work, at least, their working life wouldn't be boring.
This reminded me to always give quality time to them especially when I am abroad. I almost lost my best friends because of my desire to be so productive in this crypto world. Two of my friends got infected with covid-19 but I wasn't aware of that. Instead of checking our group on Messenger, I was more busy mingling with my virtual friends on Telegram, making more noise on noisecash, and giving more time blogging here on readcash. Until one of my friends beeped at me one day and told me that I changed a lot and not communicating with them anymore. The other one is still mad at me even now, but the two understood my situation and we reconciled.
Fun (Entertainment)
Due to busyness and setting more priorities and goals, we tend to forget to have fun. Seems like our world always revolves around our work, with no time for leisure and fun, unless your job involves having fun, like entertainers, stage performers, etcetera. But even clowns are not literally happy with their jobs, because some are only forcing themselves to throw jokes for the sake of getting money.
As for me, having fun is only possible on holidays. Most of the time, I just spend myself lying on my bed while tapping my phone, recuperating my body from the tiresome days. There is fun in some sense, but purely for the time being, because the next day, I have to go back to work again. And this pandemic restrains us from having more fun. The restrictions and lockdowns deteriorate us mentally, affecting our sense of happiness.
That is the moment when we realize that "money can't buy happiness." Because even if we are working hard, if we don't have the sense of fun, we won't ever feel genuine happiness.
Fitness (Health)
And among all these five aspects in life, the one that should be put on top is usually being less valued, the Fitness (Health). This toxic world and toxic jobs are deteriorating our minds and bodies.
We are prioritizing our aspect of Finance that we tend to forget to have quality time with our loved ones - family and friends. And due to busyness, we tend to forget to have fun and give ourselves a break. And these things give us an unhealthy mind and body, affecting our whole well-being.
Health is not being valued until our body aches and calls for attention. But as the saying goes, "Health is Wealth." Although minding Finance is important as well to survive in this world, we should learn how to balance all aspects of life so one won't be compromised.
Let's not forget that, at the end of the tiresome day, it is still us who will feel the pain and who will suffer the consequences. And when we seem to be lost in our path, it is still our family and real friends who are willing to guide and accompany us throughout our journey.
And in this new journey that I will take, I will continue to endeavor to get my equilibrium in life. Balance is always the key to genuine happiness, and happiness always leads us to success.
In my plan to recuperate and recover my Fitness, I'll make sure to have Fun with my Family and Friends, whilst managing my Finance.
We don't need to prioritize any of these, we just need to balance them all and if possible, put them all on top.
Now let me ask you, are you minding your Five Fs?
Thanks for your time.
Just after writing this article, my father sent me a message saying that OFWs are banned to fly abroad 😅. Hey co-Filipinos, what's the news about this matter there?
My winter stuff are already sent to the Philippines, lol.
Sa ngayon po nakakaligtaan kuna yung fitness and fun ...mas focus ako sa finance kasi wala na mapasukan na trabaho.. kumbaga sa situation natin ngayon is survival kughng sino ang mas marami pondo....swertehan nalang kung madisarte ka talaga sa buhay.