u/Ok-Maize3153

It's a rainy Sunday here so I spent the day relaxing, cleaning, reading, journaling. Getting ready for the work week.

I am feeling gratitude for this community r/SingleAndHappy because I feel like I do not know many people in my real life who are genuinely single and happy. I know a few, but not a lot.

I am also grateful that I've figured out how to happy and content on my own. I have a vibrant internal life that I like to nurture and thrive in. In fact, I need time on my own to live in this internal life. I get grumpy and unhappy if people crash on my solo time.

I noticed that there are a lot of people who have not figured it out. I recognize that there are some people who thrive being around a lot of other people. And I can tell they are genuinely happy around others and really all they are looking for is the company and merriment of other people. However, I also notice some people who I think are chronically unhappy. They spend money, buy things, go on travel, seek out experiences, seek out people whether romantic partners or friends. They are looking externally for something or someone that will give them internal fulfillment, and it seems to me that they are failing.

I recently read a piece on friendship (I can't remember the source right now) and the advice is to seek out friends that I do not need anything from them and they can't help me with anything tangible (like money, doing tasks for me, etc.) Those are the best friends to have, because I'm only friends with them because I genuinely enjoy their company and not because I need anything from them. There are a few people I like being around for that reason. I just like the conversation and enjoy their company. Mutually, it is a friendship that does not have these toxic elements: control, clingy, emotional vampire, expecting constant validation, time suck. I feel a pure enlightening joy when I'm with them.

The amount of AI is a horrible trend. Please stop.

I'm planning for my first unsupported backyard ultra. I've done 100-miler solo (no crew and no pacers), but I realized that I can bring some extra conveniences for an unsupported backyard ultra, like a cooler. Any ideas for what would be some good items for the cooler? So far I'm planning on small bottles of apple juice and decarbonated coke.

I've done a search through this sub and found some old posts on unsupported backyard ultras, but I'm open to more suggestions, especially if it might not be obvious.

I'm just wondering if anyone had reached FI and just decided to speak out boldly about the BS and idiotic decorum of corporate work life.

I'm leanFI and I will sometimes point out (politely) that a rule or declaration is stupid.

I feel like that would be a good way to leave work life. When I'm fully FI, just start boldly speaking up and calling out the pretentious egomaniacs at work. And then get fired (lower case fired) for it and that will be my last hurrah.

At my last job, I did call out an egomaniac manager two levels above me, and he decided that he needed to publicly shame me in a large (in-person) meeting with 25 people. Unfortunately, I wasn't FI enough to do something audacious. Not even sure what I would do, but I could start thinking of what I could do if I was financially independent.