You summed up my post quite well (although I suspect unintentionally) with your words:

“I understand this post is supposed to be about making conscious choices, but I just can’t get past the fact that it’s framed in the context of choosing new definitions of words to make that happen, which is ridiculous.”

You are correct: The post is about making conscious choices. It’s also about having a healthy perspective.

I respect your conscious choice to describe some of the ideas in the post as “ridiculous” but the primary idea is not to completely change the meanings of abstract words but to make them concrete for personal application. There is a difference.

Also, how “ridiculous” is it for a person to form their own concrete definition of retirement? I think it’s more ridiculous to blindly follow herd mentality and conventional meanings for something so personal.

In fact, I would love to see people follow your own example: Your transition of the abstract word “bird” to the word “parakeet” is useful. I believe people should do the same for the abstract words, such as retirement, that shape their lives.

At a minimum, people should make conscious choices. If they want to save and sacrifice for two-thirds of their lives for a “bird,” because social conventions teach this, go ahead and do it.

I’ll be in the minority that chooses “parakeet.” In fact, I might even change it to a “bird cage with an open door” so both the bird and I can be free.

If you never have “enough” you will never be rich, no matter what level of financial wealth you may acquire.

Perhaps I could align myself with the fisherman’s parable: http://www.thefinancialphilosopher.com/2010/06/the-fishermans-parable.html

Words and names have different translations in different countries.

Truth be told, today’s meaning of happiness is not the same as it was in Aristotle’s time. The ancient Greek’s word for happiness was “eudaimonia,” which has a closer translation to “contentment” or “flourishing” or “well-being.”

Today, the meaning of happiness is closer to the word “pleasure;” happiness today is often the result of obtaining a reward that can be easily consumed — it is fleeting.

Personally, I prefer the way Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, frames it:

“There is a difference between what is called a ‘State Effect’ and a ‘Trait Effect’ as it’s called in psychology. You experience a State Effect when you go to a workshop – you feel great, that was so good! But there is a shelf life to that. By the next week, life has set in again. You’re stressed about your job, your dog is sick, and you are arguing with your partner. That is the State Effect – it’s great while you are in the circumstance, but alas, it doesn’t last. The Trait Effect, on the other hand, means that you have embarked on a program of training the mind and training the heart in a systematic and prolonged way, which actually changes the neurology of your brain. And the more you do it, the bigger the change, and it will be there a year later, maybe even 10 years later.”

Yes, drawing a distinction between “freedom from” and “freedom to” is crucial to making a distinction between money and life.

Many people spend their lives seeking “freedom from” something, such as financial debt; yet they never really clarify what they will do once they obtain this freedom.

I like to tell readers and clients that life is not a tool for money; money is a tool for life. “Freedom to” frames the idea of making money a tool for life.

One can read almost any GRS post and see in the comments that readers have differing perspectives of the world, especially with personal finance. This post does not suggest one should create all new meanings of words but rather to be careful of following in the path of social conventions — to create one’s own path by making abstract words, such as retirement, more meaningful and concrete for the individual — to find one’s own meaning and purpose in life, rather than falling in line with herd behavior.

I will not assume anyone is interested in my ideas or philosophies of life and money but the underlying themes are self-awareness and authenticity. In different words, I urge readers to make conscious choices and to be, know and act as their authentic self. This is where true wealth resides (at least in my definition)!

Please continue with the comments. I’ll add a few more of my thoughts tomorrow (I just returned from a vacation with my family).

Cheers…

your attending to richness depends on how much of what poly morphs you aspire for.

Now by the time you’re a grown-up, you’ve generally been brainwashed into either wanting to do the things your parents have been telling you to do or at least brainwashed into doing those things anyway. Nevertheless, I’m very glad to be a grown-up because, although my parents were awesome and I had lots of freedom, I do greatly enjoy the added freedom of setting my own priorities and having more of my own resources and abilities.

With retirement, that freedom will extend to the other eight hours a day. Yes, I’ll still have to live within my means, within my capabilities, and within the laws of physics, biology, and society. But it’s still a thing I want.

Without going into Humpty Dumpty’s extremes, words don’t have absolute definitions; definitions are socially constructed and change with usage. Dictionaries are repositories of current accepted usage around the time of their printing, not permanent declarations of meaning. Furthermore, definitions are just made up of other definitions, so where does it all begin?

You realize also there is a difference between the dictionary definition of a word and its meaning in the individual mind, which does not negate the possibility of communication, though it makes it difficult (isn’t it always difficult?), and it allows language to mutate and evolve according to social usage, which is why old people talk funny and young people speak unintelligibly, or so do they mutually accuse each other of doing.

The problem with the article is that it gets mired in linguistics and opens a huge can of worms instead of directly addressing the need for the individual to examine received notions of what life should be. It doesn’t really need to be more complicated than that. Of course there’s always a need for a fresh approach, but here the opening is so subject to debate that it is difficult to arrive at the conclusion, but if you read with tact you’ll see Kent makes some valid points.

Not that I’m saying it’s bad. Leisure is the basis for culture, and all. Just that there are an awful lot of people who are just getting through the day.

I do not truly care about being rich. I do want to be secure. When my husband and I retire, I would like to be able to afford basic living expenses and medication without having to be a Walmart greeter. I like my husband and it’s taking so much of our time just staying above water that I hope we will be able to hang out together when we are older. I want to be able to visit my hypothetical future grandkids and take them on the occasional day trip, etc.

My values and goals are pretty darn well-defined. I have a lot more trouble with how to get there from here than I do with where I want to go.

For others who are making up their own definitions of words instead of relying on the ones that other people will know, and can therefore actually be used to communicate:

Monkey orange run flower fall in kick lovely donkey trip sky.

It means whatever you want it to mean, apparently.

Because a word like “happiness” describes an abstract concept does not mean you get to make up your own definition of “happiness” — it has a definition, it’s just that it’s an abstract one. The word “bird” describes a wide, abstract class of animals. This doesn’t mean you get to choose your own definition of “bird” and decide it means “parakeet”, just because that’s your favorite bird. The definition of the word still applies to *all* birds. Because this word is general does not mean it has “no real meaning”. Consider the following examples:

I have a thing.
I have an animal.
I have a bird.
I have a parakeet.

The sentence with “bird” in it has more specific meaning than the first two, and less than the last sentence. This means it has distinctly more meaning than “none”.

Yes, you choose your retirement like you choose a vacation, but “vacation” isn’t re-defined to mean “European bus tour” just because that’s what you choose.

The “conventional” definition of retirement *leaves the details unspecified* it does not force you to move to Florida and take up golf.

I understand this post is supposed to be about making conscious choices, but I just can’t get past the fact that it’s framed in the context of choosing new definitions of words to make that happen, which is ridiculous.

The word “retirement” has always had a very negative connotation for me, I’m not sure why. I don’t know of anyone in my family that’s ever retired (they die early or are too poor to stop working). I don’t think about “retirement” per se, I just tell myself I’m setting aside money for later.

Since the future is unknown, if money means safety or success to you, there’s no end to accumulation unless you get your rational mind to set one.

Money is not your life, or at least it shouldn’t be, but it is the means to the life YOU want! Kent’s very thoughtful and thought-provoking post sums this up very well:

“Is money a tool for your life or is your life a tool for your money?”

El Nerdo’s point above is valid, but I think words reflect our thoughts and can indicate our challenges. As an example, count the number of times you say “try”. A high number may indicate you don’t believe you can do whatever you are referring to when you say “try”. As Master Yoda, granted a fictional character, said: “There is no try. There is only do.”

I’m redoing my blog and blogroll and plan to feature Get Rich Slowly. I’ll also feature The Financial Philosopher!

Thanks for bringing attention to blogs like The Financial Philosopher.

Best regards, Paul

Nice feature – allowing subscriptions to comments with no comment required!

Despite that, thinking through the answers can lead to a more fulfilled life. The formal answer doesn’t necessitate the informal.