So where do I start?

Let's start with a sad story - I heard today that someone I am acquainted with through a long convoluted process is dying of cancer.  He's 80 days over what they gave him and counting and continuing blogging about the experience.  I suppose the good thing is that people are talking about it. It's another one of those stories where you feel utterly helpless because you survived and it's no good me telling him what may or may not have worked for me.  I have no idea what he's been through, how he's lived his life etc.

What was distressing is that he was made bankrupt some time ago and now that he is dying, they are taking away a great chunk of his insurance payout instead of it being for his wife, it is going to pay creditors.  That seems wrong somehow and he wasn't informed that this was going to happen way back when but way back when he wasn't going to die from cancer!  Life can deal a series of low blows.  When you think you are looking after your kith and kin, the Government and the Tax guys can come and get you.  You certainly can't cheat on HM Customs no matter what the excuse.  It just adds to the burden that he is going through as he knows it's only time and that is borrowed he is on now.

So that's not where I was going to start at all but one of the things that I've understood by this episode is that it probably isn't going to make a big difference what I do for the next ten years or so.  I might need to consider myself already partially retired and to start to look at strategies for keeping active and with it as well as making a living.  I looked for jobs today and whilst some of them looked OK I realise that I can't come from senior management and multi million pound responsibility into a job kneading dough, sweeping floors and tidying tables any more than I can enter Government as the next PM.  I looked at Christmas jobs and they look interesting but here's a problem, I actually have social things I'm booked for and taking a day off here and there isn't going to cut it.  

This means that I've sort of answered one of the main questions and it's a fundamental part of the decision process.  I need to have a job that's flexible and works around what I want to do in the future (whatever that may be).  It very much scuppers a 9 to 5 existence and so that means that I need to be creative with whatever job I do so that it allows me this loose existence and to spend time on my own personal pursuits.  It also means that there is a level of income that I need to meet.  That's the challenge I need to look at next.  At the moment I'm bringing nothing in so anything will be a bonus!  What do I need is the next question?  As a friend of mine buys a car for more than I can hope to earn in 2 years what is important to me?  That's the other bit of the puzzle.  It's surely better to have a healthy and good life than loads of material things but it would always help to have a bit more money.  It's a balancing act that is very difficult to gauge.