Apart from my wife, I have no bitcoiners in meatspace to relate this to, so I’m just gonna leave this here. No one will probably read it, but I just want to get this off my chest. Who knows, maybe it will do some good and inspire someone.
I think one of the most underestimated aspects of bitcoin is how it secretly spills over into other parts of your life. Yes, bitcoin is money in the digital age, yes, it’s a finite black hole that will absorb other asset classes, yes, inflation is theft, yes, it can make a median income earner a massive millionaire when done right. But the most underrated aspect in my eyes, and this is propagated by fellas like nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx and nostr:npub1rtlqca8r6auyaw5n5h3l5422dm4sry5dzfee4696fqe8s6qgudks7djtfs, is it made me realize how insanely valuable my time is.
When this realization occurred, I made it my number one priority to optimize for my time. So while working the fiat mines for the better part of the last decade, every time I earned a promotion or got a better job, my aim was not to earn more, but spend less time earning the same.
Yes, I could have spent more time in the mines and easily earned 2x of what I did, bought more of the coin with said earnings and be a rich fella with a much bigger car and a much bigger house by now, but you know what? Fuck that!
In stead, I got to be there for my parents, my wife and my kids, take care of them, watch them grow, do volunteer work in the local community, and pursue my hobbies, all while showing the kids that it’s OK to work for a living and contribute to society, and that it’s not normal to get retirement-rich off some crazy bet in your younger years.
Understanding the value of my time, thanks to studying bitcoin, was a life altering moment for me, and I am forever grateful for this realization. No amount of money, bitcoin or otherwise, is worth this lesson learned and the life and experiences it provided.
Who knows, with this in mind, you can look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself the extremely confrontational question: what am I doing with my time?!