How in debt are you?

#lifedebt

It’s about -500 out and I’m hopefully fighting off the last of this bug I caught so I feel pretty justified in staying home, sipping hot drinks and thinking deep thoughts while mostly under warm covers.

In our current economy, debt is a common topic. As of the 3rd quarter of 2018, the average Canadian consumer owed a record breaking $1.76 for every dollar that they earned. It’s very easy to see what a horrible cycle many people are in and how incredibly difficult it must be to get just caught up, let alone ahead of the game.

So today I’m thinking about debt, but not financial debt. Thinking about types of debt that are possibly even more damaging than financial debt. More damaging than financial debt?

When I look at myself and society around me I see several types of debt. Having just one of them would be like trying to swim with a lead shoe but for many people they are so saddled in debt that the thought of swimming at all is laughable.

What is this debt? Loosely I’ll call it life debt but it has many distinct varieties.

• Debt of self care

• Debt of connection

• Debt of sleep

• Debt of exercise

• Debt of home maintenance

• Debt of diet

• Debt of friendship

Think of debt as the amount of negative energy built up that you have to overcome in order to accomplish something.

For money, it’s easy. If you want to buy something that’s $100 but you are $500 in debt. Then really you need $600. Sure, you can put it on credit but that debt will keep increasing until at some point you exceed your credit limit and the only way to acquire something new is to pay off some old debt first.

Life debt is the same.

What things have you ignored or sacrificed that are now piles of negative energy that must be overcome?

To use myself as an example.

Once upon a time my tools were nicely organized and doing maintenance on my old Landcruiser was pretty easy. However, at some point in the last few years my carefully organized tools became a jumbled mishmash of stuff spread out between two trucks, the garage, the house and probably four different tool boxes. Doing a spring tuneup used to be a pleasant couple hours of twisting wrenches and adjusting things but now it’s more a frustrating entire afternoon (or two) of chasing my tail around trying to find the right wrenches, parts and other things.

So, I’m obviously in a state of organization debt and as a result any work I do on my trucks takes additional time and effort because of this.

Health is the same.

I have a few old injuries on my right leg that affect my stride. When I don’t work on keeping that side loose then it doesn’t take long before I start experiencing pain when I walk, longer hikes take longer and I even have to start avoiding long approaches to climbs as I know I’ll be in too much pain to really enjoy myself. Plus I don’t wish to further aggravate the injury.

It would be easy to just accept that I’m less capable because of the injury but the truth is that I’m less capable because I don’t properly care for that leg and as a result I have debt there. E.g. it takes extra energy to overcome the debt of self care that has accumulated.

Just like regular contributions to your savings account add up to a bigger number, regular physical maintenance pays off big dividends.

I could continue on with lots of examples but I’m sure you get the point.

When I look at the tired faces of people around me it seems more the weight of their debts that hold them back from realizing their dreams than it is their age.

So here’s some things to consider:

• What kind of life debts do you have?

• How are they holding you back?

• What could you accomplish if most of your energy was spent in moving forward and achieving your dreams?

• What is your debt repayment plan?

• How much are you investing in past things that aren’t relevant to your future?

Be kind to yourself, there is and only ever will be one of you.

Ian