Simple life

I always tend to hang out with people who are older than me, at high school, college, work. Not that it is my intention to be close with older peers or discriminating people who are younger than me, it's just so happened that I start becoming friends with those who give me advice. I can project myself how would I be like at their ages, it becomes a constant chase of mental growth, you learn from their experience, and try to avoid making the same mistakes as they did in the past....

So, what's up with the people at their age of 30s to 40s, who are my colleagues, some have families, some don't, they all have successful career, able to capitalize their experience without spending a lot of time at work, they have made decent money already, have a few properties on hand, they want to retire, they long for a simple life.

Awhile ago, I had a extended conversation with a friend who is at his late 30s. It's human nature that people love to look back to review their past decisions, and oftentimes, they would say they never regret the choices they have made, however, they are not exceptionally thrilled about status quo, questioning how things would be different if they chose a different path. Along the path, people make sacrifice, we like to call it opportunity cost, and the willingness to make sacrifice, we call it risk tolerance. So what mimic my friend's life - at early 20s, we are all risk taker, we have a strong faith in second chance and we believe we have all the time we need to unwind mistakes...but guess what, the chances are, there's no second chance, it's no simple math, but a black scholes model, A leads to different scenario B/C/D and each leads to another combination, and Z would never goes back to A. And now in the age of late 30s, when things don't work out as expected, and although you try to avoid blaming yourself for making stupid mistakes, there's sorrow in your eyes that reveal a part of history you want to dismiss but retain in the brain like a tumor. You will feel incomplete, you think all along you've been searching for something nonexist, something immaterial in nature but cost a fortune in the past.

So what's the lesson learnt? Live everyday to the fullest, care and pay respect to people surrounding you, don't let stupidity to steer your wheels, and don't make decisions based on selfish deed.