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In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Relax, Breathe and Enjoy the Moment

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Receiving an unexpected gift

Once in our travels around the world, Billy and I made a trip to Laos. There was a day when we were walking along the Mekong River and taking in the scenery. Basically, full of wonder, we meandered along until we got to this bend in the road.

It was here that I felt a strange tug at my heart and looked to my left away from the river. I practically whispered to Billy, “Something is over there. I’m curious, let’s go see.”

Quietly, we padded our way on this dusty gap in the jungle, and into an area where an “ancient” (a woman of so many years) was sitting on the ground with her granddaughter while the granddaughter made rice rolls.

Elderly woman giving the Wai greeting, Mekong River area, Laos

Peace-filled woman giving us the Wai greeting

Approaching with smiles on our faces, she gave us the customary “Wai” greeting of welcome and respect. We returned the same greeting to her. Exchanging the bits of Thai that we knew, we mostly motioned with our arms, hands and gave smiles back and forth.

I can’t really convey how this felt, except that had I not been attuned to myself and felt that "nudge", this opportunity to visit with her and share humanity would have been lost.

I still hold it in my memory today as a gift.

 

 

 

 

Avoiding an unspeakable tragedy

About 20 years ago, Billy and I were visiting some friends who had a home on the golf course.

We were invited for happy hour and dinner and had made our way out to the back where the view of the golf course and the umbrella’d tables and wrought iron chairs were.

After a bit, I got up to go behind the swimming pool by the wall of the house.

Leaning against that wall, I took in the full scenery that only a golf course offers. After a few minutes, I decided to put my drink down by my feet so I could fully soak up the whole sight, unencumbered.

As I bent down - at that very nano-second - a golf ball whizzed above me and forcefully cracked at the wall where my face had just been.

Had I not bent over at that very moment, I could have died, had brain damage, lost an eye, broke my nose or had a mouthful of tooth fragments.

It was a long few seconds of silence as everyone took this in, and then realization flowed over me like ice water.

I was super aware of what had just transpired, and how I had averted tragedy.

In the flow

My point to these two stories is that in both of them, I was fully in happiness, not worrying or caring about anything. In one instance, I received the gift of a peace-filled stranger, an older woman welcoming me in her home, and in the other instance, a catastrophe had been avoided. 

There’s no moral to these stories.

It’s not that I was more deserving of being spared or have less sin than someone else. I believe that I was simply in the Flow, and the Flow knew where to go.

It’s no different than when you might be driving in your car, singing along with your favorite music and somehow, the traffic just opens up for you. Or maybe you are kayaking and listening to nature’s peace, and a beautiful expression of the wild unfolds before your very eyes.

You were in the flow then too.

Letting go of worry and anxiety is a good thing. It opens doors to gifts unimagined and expands our lives.

Especially now, when it’s easy to get caught up in the news of the day, dropping worry and anxiety as a routine experience can help you forge a new path for yourself.

You can’t lose by trying this, and you may just find that you have stumbled out into a sun-filled clearing.

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About the Authors

 
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli are recognized retirement experts and internationally published authors on topics of finance, medical tourism and world travel. With the wealth of information they share on their award winning website RetireEarlyLifestyle.com, they have been helping people achieve their own retirement dreams since 1991. They wrote the popular books, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement and Your Retirement Dream IS Possible available on their website bookstore or on Amazon.com.

 

contact Billy and Akaisha at theguide@retireearlylifestyle.com

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Retire Early Lifestyle appeals to a different kind of person – the person who prizes their independence, values their time, and who doesn’t want to mindlessly follow the crowd.

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