What Will Be My Life's Priorities When I'm 55?

I situated my home business office on the east side so early rays of sun can hit my desk. The view encompasses a river valley with rising silver mists,purple mountains and emerald green trees. My coffee tastes smoother, the light plays with the flowers and I am inspired to do my best. In the mountains, wintertime piles up the snow. But it is expected, manageable and a brisk country ski trip is exhilarating.

But this winter, I saw a person I had not seen before. She is an elderly post woman who delivers mail on our road. She is short, slight and probably well into her fifties or early sixties.

The other morning there was considerable snow lasting for most of the night and day. Being a side road, there was no early plowing. Around 11 o'clock, comes this post woman doing her job. She is wearing a bright, bright yellow slicker and hat to fend off the snow flurries. She trudges slowly because the new snow is about a foot deep. She delivers mail to my neighbors, walks slowly around the corner to deposit a couple letters in my mailbox. I notice by the footprints that she took a shortcut down a short hill where the snow was considerably deeper.She was back the next day treading in snowy weather again.

Watching the yellow slicker move against the white snow made me think about my home business. Here I am, comfortable, warm, able to retire early and enjoy extra income.

So I started to wonder about this little old lady. She probably had a lifetime career in postal work. Her working hours and holidays strictly determined. The power of the boss, her edifice.

Was she married, divorced, widowed? Was her husband working?

Did she own a home and ongoing mortgage or was she paying steady rent?

What about her family? Did she continue working this hard to support her childrens' plans, such as college? Was she supporting an elderly parent? Were grandchildren on her mind?

Did she have savings to supplement her Old Age Pension Plan?

Did she want to travel to visit family or pursue a special hobby?

The more I thought about her circumstances and how hard she worked, the more the analogy made sense that our life's journeys are travelled in all kinds of weather. Sometimes, it is sunny and the birds are singing, sometimes it is an overcast monotony, and sometimes the elements seem adversely conspiring against us. Even tragedies strike us that we must suffer through.

So the next thought was, "Is there any way I can better control my circumstances so that regardless of what life's journey may turn up around the next corner, I can be better prepared to meet my needs?"

This is especially true for younger women who are extraordinarily busy with their lives at all levels. Ask these questions:

When I am fifty-five years old, what will my life's priorities be?

What would I like to do if money and time were no longer objections?

I can only answer for myself. As a child and student, I followed rules. As a teacher, I followed rules and clear instructional objectives. My alarm clock was a constant companion. Even summer holidays seemed abbreviated with plans for the next term. I decided in my early forties to look at a network marketing home business as an extra source of long-term income. It was an interesting education and the people-power principles have remained true. At the beginning, for about 7 years, it was part-time work as I learned more about this profession with such potential. Now, however, network marketing has evolved into a simpler, back to basics program, IF done right. Now, most importantly, I know the value of free time.

The point is, I could have continued teaching into my sixties. I could have retired later. My alarm clock could have kept waking me up 5:30 every morning. My evenings could have been filled with marking papers. But because I had supplementary income, I was able to retire early with my pension and reclaim my time freedom. Sure, I still get up at 6:00 AM because I have things I want to do.

Of course, I am thankful for the elderly postal woman delivering my paper mail. I wish her well. She probably doesn't want to be replaced but when she retires, I hope a younger person will take her place along these mountain roads. Her long years of service will be acknowledged with a certificate and small gift. What price will she have paid in her life's journey?

There are strange cross-currents in our world today. I sit at my desk and communicate across North America with emails and videos. The Information Age and Intellectual Distribution are the future ways and opportunities. New technology makes it simpler to plug into major trends and make money from home very time-effectively.

Sharing a phone call beats wearing a bright, bright yellow slicker in a snow storm any day.


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Annemarie Berukoff is retired teacher and professional networker whose motto is a return to basics with 3 concepts for a fair, democratic home business that every family deserves. You are invited to discover how to shop, save and earn home-based income by giving away a free valuable shopping service that saves money.512 404 1270 Who do you know likes to save and make money. Watch important webinar.