Ten years ago I wrote about what it meant to be to be able to afford something and that financial independence meant the state of being able to chose to work where I wanted, doing what I wanted, or not at all if that is what I wanted.

I was thinking about a sort of independence – the lack of a dependency on others for a sustained meeting of needs. The lack of a need to conform to their rules in order to meet my needs.

As I’ve gotten older and closer to that being a reality, I’ve put some more words into what it means to be to be financially independent and to retire early (FI+RE).

For me, it comes down to being in a situation where I have lots of options.

• The option to live where we want to live, not to be limited to a selection we dislike for arbitrary reasons.
• to spend my time working on projects I am interested in and compelled by, not limited to the certain things just because they make a profit.
• to decide on the the amount of hours per week I spend on work, based on my life circumstances, not to have that dictated by a role or someone else’s decisions
• to pick the team I work with and the people I spend my days around.
• to be able to afford a lifestyle that is comfortable and to be comfortable with a lifestyle that is affordable.

I have found that dependencies impact those exact things and that dependence often comes from inflating our needs. Maintaining our enjoyment of new car comes with having to ask what city has good job opportunities for my industry. Our familiarity with maintaining a fresh wardrobe come with the need for a job that requires spending more time with people we don’t enjoy. Our desire for a second house to relax in comes with the need for a promotion that require extra hours – hours that aren’t spent relaxing.

Costs come with demands – as we increase our costs, the world increases its demands on us.

Choices are not without their own costs though.

Freedom is a burden. There is a certain sort of ease that comes from the lack of a choice. From fitting into a pre-established pattern. So long as you do what you are supposed to do, there is a path. There is someone ahead of you showing you how to do it.

Freedom is also a benefit. Our soul can not sing when it is out of tune with reality any more than two instruments can play well together if they are not in tune. For many people – perhaps all people – the well worn paths of reality are not quite in tune with their deepest and truest self.

Freedom offers a chance for a new path. To set the tune on a wavelength that perhaps better matches what we are and what we can be.