καιρός

It was 8:00 AM when a text message woke me up.

I was still groggy for having slept less than five hours since I work in the afternoon and leave the office past midnight.

"Sorry ha? Wala na kasi ako. Yung hospital bill ni Tita ako na nagbayad. Nagbigay na rin sila Kuya at Ate. Baka meron kang pwede ibigay dyan pambili ng maintenance ni Tita. For one week na lang kasi yung natitirang supply."

It was then that I decided to finally start writing this very important topic: Why Do I Trade?

I remembered a movie that I really liked.

It takes place in a society where people stop aging at 25 and each has a clock on their arm that counts down how long they have to live. When the clock reaches zero, that person "times out" and dies. Time has become the universal currency; it is used to pay for daily expenses and can be transferred between people.

There are two kinds of people. Those who have 24 hours or less on their clock and need to keep working their ass off to earn more time. And those who have enough time on their hands to live forever and do whatever the f*ck they want.

This is the reason why I trade and keep on pushing myself to the limits to master this game.

I want TIME.

The movie is an extreme example of a "rat race." They keep working in order to live. If they don't, they die. In real life, if you're in a rat race, you don't die.. but you're not living either. You'd be missing out on a lot of things.

There are three OFWs in my extended family. And they all have one thing in common as it is with almost all OFWs. Their children grew up seeing them only once or twice every two years. They go home to the Philippines and spend a month or two with their family. Go on vacation. Baguio, Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, anywhere you can think of. Then time runs out. It's over. Back to work.

I remember a scene when I was still in college. I went with my cousin to the airport to fetch her husband. There was a woman carrying a child. Probably 2-3 years old. A man approached them and kissed the woman. The child looked as if she had no idea who the man was. The man gave the child a teddy bear. The woman said "Oh ayan ang Papa mo may regalo sayo. Papa mo yan."

This isn't the life I want.
This isn't the life I want for my family.
I don't want to miss a second seeing my child grow up.

Eight hours of working for someone else could be eight hours spent with your loved ones.
Waking up early in the morning to prepare for work could be waking up to exercise.
Waking up early in the morning could be waking up to prepare breakfast for your family.
Working on weekends could be movie time for the whole family.
Working on holidays could be a family road trip somewhere.

Eating lunch with workmates could be picnic with your parents who are getting old.
Overtime hours could be keeping up with friends asking how their day was.
Working late at night in order to submit that report could be hours for making love with your special someone.

Think of one of Zeefreaks' students.
He's now a full-time trader working on his own bakeshop on which he's passionate about.

He gets to spend quality time with his family obviously.
And he still has enough time to do swimming.

You can't do these if you're working for someone else.

You see.
Money can buy time.
And if you have more money, you have more time.
More time to pursue your passion and things you like.

More time to give to people who need it.
More time to share with the important people in your life.

More time to spend with people you love.
I care less about the money.
I want time.

I've been studying the market and myself for two years now.
I am not yet profitable.
So am I wasting my time?
I don't think so.
What's spending two, three, even five years learning and mastering this game if you see yourself playing it even when you're 50, 60,70 years old?
I know I'll get there.
In Time.