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A little bit of bad news came today on the work-front, as because I have been there for less than (just under) three years, they will cover only 4 weeks of my sick leave, before I get pushed to the government allowance. I have had close to zero from the government in the 18 years I have been here, even when I have supposedly qualified for some kind of support, so I am not too hopeful of getting anything this time around either. I am not keen to jump through al of the hoops, only to be rejected again. At the end of the day though, I generally rely on myself instead, because it is far easier to calculate revenue, and far less disappointing.

This throws a bit of a spanner (wrench) in the works though, as I had been led to believe that I would be covered by my work, which took some of the pressure off me not being able to run my own business currently either. So, now I have to go back to the drawing board and recalculate my budgets for the next few months and work out if I have to go back earlier than I might be completely ready for. 

![image.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmToHiXZpHKWPuXXXEfiRne7TpQMkQL9MPz44zhwfr5mdA/image.png)

Unfortunately in life, there is the ideal scenario and then there is what is possible, and I think this is going to be another case of *less than ideal* in regards to my own recovery. But, it is definitely not the worst case scenario either, since I have done some prep for this kind of thing and I am not left totally out at sea from my workplace.

So much of our well-being is dependent on our economy and financial availability, which makes the idea of *health is wealth* not incorrect, but the inverse of *wealth is health* also valid. Having money doesn't make you wealthy of course, but it does give more possibility for quality of food, availability of opportunity and exercise, a reduction in stress, access to healthcare and of course, as *time is money,* the time to take better care of oneself, physically and mentally. 

If looking at [life expectancy by country,](https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/life-expectancy/) there is a *forty year difference* between the top and the bottom across the world, which as you can probably guess sees a fair bit of correlation between wealth and longevity. Forty years is half a lifetime - that is quite crazy, considering we are all living on the same planet and the majority of us have access to the same information.

Now, having money doesn't make a person healthier or happier by default of course, but taking my own current circumstances as a basic example, life would be far simpler and easier if I didn't have to think about how to make ends meet, or cover medical expenses. As I live in Finland, much of the medical expense is covered by taxes of course, but I still have to think about my daily expenses to a high degree, since my wife and I are only just starting to get back on our feet financially, as well as we have our ongoing housing renovation work to complete. 

While we aren't exactly in dire straits, if for example I didn't have any monetary concerns at all, it would mean I could focus completely on my recovery process, without having to concern myself with any of the day to day home economic needs at all. All of the organization takes time and energy that could be better spent on something else, but can't. Every activity has an opportunity cost associated with it and this case, the opportunity to cover expenses, is going to cost me some time, energy and potential that could have been spent on recovery. 

Of course, in this case which isn't exactly a light health issue, I can't afford *not* to recover properly, but I don't know if I will be able to recover fully. At least, I don't know what the cost to my recovery is going to be if I end up going back to work a month earlier than planned or recommended. 

And that cost is not just the immediate cost, as it could be that what I "miss out on" in recovery might have long-ranging affects on my work opportunity in the future too, but there is no way to evaluate or have visibility on this either. It could also be that me not going back earlier would have had a cost also, where for example, I miss developing work opportunities that could have led onto better things. 

In general, I take the stance that it is better to work than not to work, because there is opportunity in the randomness of being out and about. I know plenty of people who have stayed home on unemployment benefits, because it "wasn't worth them working" - only to find that they lost opportunity to work after, pushing them into either long-term unemployment or, reduced quality of employment. And again, the full-extent of consequences can never be known. 

Yet, people make decisions daily that affect their lives in invisible and unknown ways, but when they imagine the counterfactuals, assume that their evaluation of alternatives is correct. I have seen this over the years on Hive for example and have experienced it myself. The number of people who take the approach of "not worth my time" and end up proving themselves correct is very high - but it isn't because they were correct, it was because the action they performed caused a self-fulfilling prophecy to come true. I decided that "it was worth my time" and proved myself correct too. The difference in activity though is significant, because the first person proves themselves correct and loses nothing, but if I was incorrect, I would have lost a hell of a lot of my time.  

I have dealt with a lot of business owners in my work over the years and nearly all of them have the same story about their start. Pretty much, people told them not to bother starting the business because it is unlikely to be successful and will therefore be a waste of their time, effort and investment. But, since they were sitting in sessions with me, *they didn't listen and did it anyway.* 

Not listening to advice doesn't automatically lead to success and will often result in failure, but at least, a person can take agency over their life and make decisions for themselves. However, taking this responsibility also means accepting the consequences of actions. I think playing this game leads to a *higher quality* of life, even if there is greater hardship, as there is far less likelihood of feeling powerless and disenfranchised, even when failure happens. Also, *bitterness* doesn't tend to be the mindset of the "tried and failed" crowd, but it is of those who feel they have been hard done by, by the world. 

I guess it comes down to whether a person has an internal or external locus of control, whether they are active participants or unwilling victims of life. Sure, luck might never swing my way, but in the absence of luck, I am still not irrelevant.

This is why ownership is so important in the world and by this, I mean all kinds of forms of ownership. Because even when no one gives you anything, an owner isn't left with nothing. Resources come in many forms, money, skills, time, attitude, health and others. 

Which resources do you hold that are truly at *your* disposal?




Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]



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