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Chinese New Year of the Rat 2020. (Of rats and races.)

Monday, January 20, 2020

In a few days from now, my year will be over.

We will be going from year of the "oink, oink" to year of the "squeak, squeak".

Good bye to Piggy.

Welcome to Ratty!

Yes, AK is not a rat.

AK is a pig.

Unless we are Chinese, saying that we are a rat or a pig would probably sound rather strange or even offensive.

However, if are familiar with the phrase "rat race", then, all adults would have been a rat at one time or another.

"The origin of the expression is from laboratory experiments where two rats are trying to outrun each other in order to get a piece of cheese."

Source: Quora.

Interesting bit of trivia but rather depressing when we think about it as an analogy.






What?

Mr. XYZ is the number one rat in the race?

I don't care?

I am not a rat anymore.

Mr. XYZ and his friends can be rats and they can race each other all they want.

Take a break and have a Kit Kat?

Sorry, if Mr. XYZ and his friends take a break, there is no Kit Kat and they might not get that piece of cheese either.

Having said this, I do understand that we are all wired differently.






Although I think that there is nothing wrong with people who would like to achieve financial freedom and to stop working, there will be people who think that such people are just lazy.

Some might even think that AK is being irresponsible and should be ashamed of himself.

See:
Financially free AK ashamed?


AK, on the other hand, doesn't have anything mean to say about people who are gainfully employed.

See?

AK is such a nice guy.


The fact that AK doesn't like being a rat doesn't mean that others should feel the same way.

However, to those who enjoy being rats, the question to ask is this:

"Can I be a rat and not be in the race?"

Work not because we need the money from working and we would be such a rat.

Simple.

See:
9 wealth building blogs.






That piece of moldy cheese?

Other rats can have it.

I don't need it.

No more hunger and no more suffering.

Nirvana in Buddhism leads to the release from the cycle of birth and death.

Nirvana for rats leads to the release from the rat race.

We can still be rats but we don't have to take part in the racing.

Hope this is food for thought for some and, no, I am not referring to a piece of cheese.

Sincerely,
Not a rat AK.

Wishing all readers 
a happy and prosperous 
Chinese New Year!







Published recently:
Investors eat crusty bread with ink slowly for peace of mind.


Related post:
Scolded by wife for thinking about financial freedom.

11 comments:

Your Ka-ki! said...

AK,

Happy New Year !

We hope we can fire like you soon.

Don't like cheese especially blue cheese. Yikes...

Singtel ad. Hmm,,,Hint to buy ?

AK71 said...

Hi YKK,

Ready.

Aim.

F.I.R.E.

Cheesy? ;p

Maybe, the ad is a hint for everyone to be a SingTel customer.

You blur?

I also blur.

Everybody huat until blur ah! ;p

Augustine said...

Shi Fu AK

I miss your evening with AK session.

Btw why this year never post 4D tip? Can you post please?

Augustine said...

Shi Fu Ak

Why this year never post 4D tip? Would appreciate you post 4D tip for us

Bananamint said...

Yes, AK is such a nice guy XD

Happy CNY, AK! Hope Mr Market will give you a bigger angpow this year :D

AK71 said...

Hi Augustine,

Evening with AK and friends?

Too tiring.

AK needs a long time to recover his Qi. ;p

4D?

AK was encouraging readers to gamble.

Bad AK! Bad AK!

No more 4D.

AK is being good now. ;p

AK71 said...

Hi Bananamint,

Hope Mr. Market gives all of us a big ang bao this year!

Huat ah! :D

Betta man said...

Wuhan Virus outbreak, market down. Come AK, give us some stock tips instead of 4D tips :D

AK71 said...

Hi Betta man,

See:
Eat crusty bread with ink slowly.

;p

JL said...

Hi im a 24 year old student that will be graduating in a year. Is there any tips and advice i could get on what to invest on once i start working to replicate your success?

AK71 said...

Hi JL,

I don't think anyone should try to be a carbon copy to replicate what I have done.

Circumstances for each of us will be different.

You might want to read the following blogs for a start:
1. AK answers 10 questions from an undergrad.
2. Graduating soon? Think financial security.
3. How big should our emergency fund be?
4. A holistic approach to financial security.


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