Researchers call this time affluence: the sense that you have enough time, not just money, to savor your life. And here’s the kicker—as we age, time becomes our most precious currency. You can always earn more money, but you can’t earn more Tuesdays.
Studies show that people who feel “time rich” report higher levels of happiness, lower stress, and even better health. That’s the value of midlife and beyond: we get to decide whether our calendar is a tyrant or a garden. But here’s the real question—what are you going to do with your affluence?
It’s one thing to declutter your schedule; it’s another to fill those free hours with purpose or playing with a porpoise. Will you deepen friendships? Learn something new? Offer your gifts in service? Or maybe just sit in the sun with a book and a glass of wine, honoring the radical act of doing nothing.
Becoming a chillionaire isn’t about checking out of life. It’s about checking in—with yourself, with others, with what makes your days meaningful. So, who wants to be a chillionaire? I know I do.
Jaja and me chillin’ in front of the chapel on MEA’s future campus in the town of Santa Fe
-Chip