Friday, Jul 21, 2017
Can’t Live on Love
When I decided to move to Ecuador I had some money to live on but not an income. When I moved here at 53 I was, and still am, too young to draw off my pension, 401k, or social security. I knew I wasn’t finished working when I got here. In fact I had only just begun…a new career that is. It was my intention to begin my full time career as a Men’s Empowered Action Coach, and that is exactly what I am doing.
Focus and Flow
Lately my focus on work has become more serious for me. Although the income is important for my belly, what I feel I am doing is very important for my being. As I acquire more coaching clients and live within my passion of helping men create the lives they want to be living, I become more enthused and energized to do even more of it. I was always told that when you are doing something you love it’s easy to do.
I’m not sure easy is the right word to describe the feeling I have. It is more like flow, and the energy that comes with it. If I could describe the picture in my mind it would be like a fast running river. With boulders strewn throughout the length of the river bed and with angular bends along its course, there is flow. The water moves forward regardless of what it encounters in its path. That’s how I feel. Moving in the direction of my life’s purpose, not always straight, smooth, or easy, but filled with energy and making progress in the flow.
Trust in the Experience
Ecuador is a great place to have this experience. I am away from the bombardment of consumerism, talking heads, and the familiarity of a way of being that allowed me to sleep while awake. Surrounded by intense beauty and simple living, I have space to breathe, room to be conscious, and margin to observe impact of action and choice. Time to create and think in this flow. It is beyond awesome!
I also have been forced to trust. Trust things will work out. And not only that, but trust events and situations I hadn’t planned on or expected are guiding and shaping me to flow in my fullest potential. I think the most fun in this, and also the most scary, is trusting I can figure out how to make things work here for us. I don’t do this alone though. My wife is smart. Her insights and help are invaluable to me…and I have been learning to trust that too!
Gratitude Can Be Gray
The weather has been shit and I am learning to be grateful. It is easy to be grateful when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. This week it has barely been what I would consider “light” outside with the heavy cloud cover and frequent rain. Still, this flow of weather seems like an external manifestation of what is happening to me inside.
Not visible enough to see with great clarity down the beach, I run on; but warm enough to enjoy where I am at in the moment. Focus is required to see my next steps on the pebble strewn shoreline, while I feel energized by the feel of the sand under my bare feet. This is my life right now…
Grateful In What Is
…that and Wine Wednesday at the Roadhouse. This week Heidi and I along with a couple of our favorite people got to enjoy a young woman playing her violin while I enjoyed $1.50 glasses of wine.
Chau!
Congrats on finding work that is internally gratifying AND paying the bills. How rewarding! I wonder if one day this line of work will allow you to take on more clients during this rainy, gloomy season and have a lighter load when the weather is more up your alley….
Thanks Jen. I’m very excited to be on this path. Your suggestion is a good one…lemons into lemonade kind of thing. 🙂
Thanks for reading.
Todd
What is that old wisdom I was given out of High School? “Find want you love to do and the money will follow”. Now with 3 degrees completed and fully retired from a career I did not love but which provided great retirement benefits I wonder sometimes about the path not taken, if I had followed my passion instead of my sensibilities. Perhaps the money part is learning to live within ones means if following ones passion paid less.
I wonder the above because I am content and happy doing exactly what I want to do each day but I have found the passion has been covered over by layers of living in the “illusion” all those years….still I am happy and content living in partnership with my spouse with no ambition to resurrect the passion I once had for another path.
Enjoy your second career and I will continue to send out “vibes” that the money flows to meet your needs.
I like your reflection Catherine. Ultimately all any of us have is this singular moment. It reminds me that happiness is a choice we get to make each day in so many different contexts, and it is never too late to find passion and the enjoyment it brings, even if it shows up in an unexpected way. Thanks for sending your good vibes, I greatly appreciate them!
All the best,
Todd
Hello, Todd! I have been reading your blog as before the Quake! I asked about a year ago about rents in Cuenca with the two of us and dog.. then my hubby Gordon hurt his back! The in fed he broke his wrist! Too much snow and ice here in Bend Or! We got out of here Feb to Mexico for some R&R. Now back in Bend for summer. Anyway I have been reading on some cost of living sites that costs there inEC. Have really gone up! What do you think ?? We are now hoping to get down there in Oct for the winter! But it looks like it’s more pricey than here what do you think?i hope I got bad info. We liked Mexico but the Cartel are really killing people this year! Not good! We want something on the beach or overlooking the beach. What do you pay there? Any help would be great! Virginia and Gordon Crews
Hi Virginia, I hope you and Gordon are doing well now that the snow has melted. 😉
I think living in Ecuador is cheaper than living in the States, but not dirt cheap. If you want the comforts of the US, then it isn’t dirt cheap. We could live in a really nice studio 2 blocks off the beach for $500/month including utilities. If we wanted an “ok”, very basic, two bedroom home, with only a bed and a table and chairs, the same distance from the beach as the studio we could find one for the same money. It’s tough though to live right on the beach for anything less than a thousand a month. Get’s more expensive if you want it furnished and if you have a pet.
However, you and Gordon owe it to yourselves to come here for at least a month. Stay in a nice hotel or find a good deal on VRBO or something, and live here. Talk to who is here, what they pay, what they know. Shop in the tiendas. Go to a Supermaxi or Mi Comisariato and see what food costs there. Go to the farmer’s market and see what food and clothes and “things” cost there. “Things” are expensive here in my opinion at any normal retail type store. Check these two blog posts out http://bit.ly/2ozYAgP and http://bit.ly/2ozYAgP to see what I have shared before.
Bottom line, it is important to live here for a bit it and check it out to see if the lifestyle you want is in the budget you have in mind.
Great hearing from you and I assume, and am glad, Gordon is doing well.
Chau!