Panic!I had the longest 10 days in my life as my money floated about in the ether, but on the 11th day much to my relief it appeared in my home account. That experience taught me 2 important lessons; one was that it was ridiculous to take risks with all the money I had just for the sake of a few more pounds interest. The other was that money itself doesn't really exist - it's just numbers on a screen which can disappear at the stroke of a key. So it is a waste of our precious lives to spend almost all of our time chasing after it.
I say I learnt that lesson; it would be more accurate to say I recognised the truth of it, because I can still get obsessive about money, particularly as I haven't got very much now.
Anyway, back to the story:
Don't Panic My search for a boat took on an added urgency as I realised that, as banks were crashing down around my ears, I would only be safe once I had converted my cash into wood and steel. Eventually I found the right boat. She is 12 years old, 50 feet long, 6'10 wide and was built by Tim Tyler, a very well known boat builder. She had won an award for her interior (fit out) when she was built and her name seemed to fit very well! On 17th December, (with two weeks to spare before homelessness set in) after some anxious bargaining, Don't Panic was mine. All I had to do now was to downsize my possessions from fitting nicely into a 3 bedroomed house to a 50' boat.
Downsizing: If you have never gone through all the things you own and decided whether you need it or not, I would highly recommend the exercise as it feels very cleansing. I had heard that you keep nothing on your boat that isn't either useful or beautiful and so with very little available space I had to be pretty ruthless. I started easily with stuff I never used and had forgotten I had. Then it was things I liked having 'just in case'. Then it got harder with items that were useful but not absolutely necessary. The hardest were the more sentimental objects. For instance I had 15 (pre digital) photo albums and had to weed the photos to fit into one book. Finally I sold, gave away or threw away most of my possessions and all my furniture. I only kept what seemed essential and yet, 6 months on, I have a shelf of things that are waiting for a car boot sale! I haven't missed any of my stuff and I feel much lighter without them. I discovered for the first time that it is true that possessions don't make you happy - or at least they don't keep you happy!
On 10th January 2009 I moved aboard my new home, and that was when the problems really started!
I say I learnt that lesson; it would be more accurate to say I recognised the truth of it, because I can still get obsessive about money, particularly as I haven't got very much now.
Anyway, back to the story:
Don't Panic My search for a boat took on an added urgency as I realised that, as banks were crashing down around my ears, I would only be safe once I had converted my cash into wood and steel. Eventually I found the right boat. She is 12 years old, 50 feet long, 6'10 wide and was built by Tim Tyler, a very well known boat builder. She had won an award for her interior (fit out) when she was built and her name seemed to fit very well! On 17th December, (with two weeks to spare before homelessness set in) after some anxious bargaining, Don't Panic was mine. All I had to do now was to downsize my possessions from fitting nicely into a 3 bedroomed house to a 50' boat.
Downsizing: If you have never gone through all the things you own and decided whether you need it or not, I would highly recommend the exercise as it feels very cleansing. I had heard that you keep nothing on your boat that isn't either useful or beautiful and so with very little available space I had to be pretty ruthless. I started easily with stuff I never used and had forgotten I had. Then it was things I liked having 'just in case'. Then it got harder with items that were useful but not absolutely necessary. The hardest were the more sentimental objects. For instance I had 15 (pre digital) photo albums and had to weed the photos to fit into one book. Finally I sold, gave away or threw away most of my possessions and all my furniture. I only kept what seemed essential and yet, 6 months on, I have a shelf of things that are waiting for a car boot sale! I haven't missed any of my stuff and I feel much lighter without them. I discovered for the first time that it is true that possessions don't make you happy - or at least they don't keep you happy!
On 10th January 2009 I moved aboard my new home, and that was when the problems really started!
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