Life Is for Spending

A reader wrote in to say he had earned more than 400,000 Frequent Flyer Miles from learning about travel hacking in the past few months.

“That’s amazing!” I said. “Great work!”

He had a question on how to earn even more miles and points.

Well, we can talk about that, I told him. There are always new strategies to practice, new opportunities to pursue.

But first, I asked, what are you using all these miles for?

“I haven’t figured that out yet,” he said. “Maybe next year I’ll go somewhere.”

What! That’s not the point.

Miles are for spending. If you earn miles or points, you should put them to good use. All the Frequent Flyer Miles in the world won’t help you if you don’t get on a plane.

Your life, too, is for spending. Your life should not be reserved for something great “one day” in the distant future. Your life should be spent today.

Sure, you should plan for the future, and you should take care of yourself. But no amount of yoga or teeth-flossing will defer the inevitable: every day we grow older.

So why not give all you can today? Spend those miles. Spend that life. Don’t save it up!

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