Story time:

6 years ago my mother in law was left penniless in a surprise divorce at age 67.

My father in law (piece of shit) had left her with nothing and planned to dump her on social security.

She was working as a pre school teacher making $14 an hour.

We had to move fast.

Father in law literally shotgun divorced her.

Showed up at the doorstep with a notary and manipulated an emotionally fragile woman into a binding legal agreement.

I was pissed.

I showed up a few hours later with a series of financial plans.

And with tears still streaming down her face in the kitchen of her tiny apartment, she picked one.

I gave her 3 options.

1. Aggressive

2. Extremely aggressive

3. Dave Ramsey rice and beans

She chose number 3.

Over the next 4 years she rode her bike to work everyday. Watered down her lemonade. Spent nothing on herself. Walked dogs for extra income. Took weekend shifts at the preschool. Showed up early. Stayed late and against all odds was able to save 12k a year on a salary of only 27k.

I set up a couple retirement accounts for her and whenever she would scratch $1,000 together she would give it to me and I would smash buy GBTC or MSTR.

My mother in law has never invested a day in her life and I didn’t want the news or some boomer friend to freak her out, so my wife and I just tell her she’s invested in “the market” 😂

When Bitcoin (the market) is doing good, we tell her and when it’s not we just… don’t tell her lol

So she’s effectively shielded from the emotional volatility of hodling. Which makes her a very good hodler.

Fast forward to today.

I helped her retire from the preschool. She is now living with us and helping look after her grandchildren.

She went from being near suicidal. My wife and I were legitimately concerned about her mental health. To a happy healthy and vibrant grandmother.

And as of yesterday she crossed 500k in retirement accounts.

I expect she’ll be a millionaire soon.

She can now comfortably retire with dignity.

This is not something that would have been possible without Bitcoin.

As cool as it is to see people like @saylor make billions of dollars these are the stories I live for.

The average person fixing their life with bitcoin.

It’s so fucking beautiful man.

Life’s good.

Someone just tried to give up coffee, without success.

Here’s my take on that. There’s nothing wrong with coffee. However if you’re having it for the energy it gives you, I’ve found there are more effective ways to get that energy. When it comes to habits, replacing a habit is much more likely to work (feels like evolution) than removing one (feels like self-denial)

There are 4 sources of energy (I’m talking the energy a human feels, not kWhs!)

1. Food

2. Sleep

3. Breath

4. Knowledge/ a calm state of mind

Of these, the most unexplored and the most impactful I’ve found is the breath.

I stopped having coffee (and other stimulants) after starting a daily practice of breathing exercises. It wasn’t even a big deal or an effort. I just found I didn’t need it. From time to time - maybe once a year I might have a coffee because I like the taste, and the aroma, and when I do, I really enjoy and savor it. But I no longer need it. I don’t crave it.

For me, a critical pet of freedom is reducing and removing what I feel I “need”. Freedom for me means there is nothing and no one in life that has control over me. If I need, or believe I need, anything or anyone outside of myself, then I am not free.

Anyway, the particular breathing practice I found most effective after trialling a few was SKY breathing, as taught by the Art of Living foundation. Back in 2007 I completed my training to be able to teach this technique to others, and as a volunteer in my spare time just recently completed the 100th course. I was fortunate enough to discover the technique by accident more than 20 years ago, before breathing practices were fashionable. But I just did a quick search and found that it’s now had over 100 papers published on its heath and well-being benefits.

Who remembers Lonely Planet books?

We spent a few months in India years ago and, since we weren’t going south at all, we cut the book in half to save weight.

GM.

Orange is the new green.

And the reviews are pouring in! ★☆☆☆☆

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