Occasionally I sit back and reflect upon my life’s milestones.
Graduation. Marriage. The birth of my daughter… then my son. These were incredibly formative events.
And I just added another milestone to the list. Getting banned from the hospital’s rehab unit.
I was visiting a family member who just had a stroke last week. Upon entering the facility, the person at the front desk informed me that masks were required. And he asked me to take a mask from a box on the counter.
So I did. And then I made my way to the elevator and up to the seventh floor.
It turns out the floor’s nursing station is right there as you get off the elevator. And the director happened to be on duty.
She was talking with somebody as I made my journey towards the room. But she immediately called out as soon as she saw me. Sir, you need to have a mask.
I smiled and called back. “It’s okay – I do!”. Then I held up the mask I was carrying in my hand.
Sir, you must put the mask on! She snapped back.
I repeated that it was okay as I walked around the corner. I figured that would be the end of it.
Wrong.
She pursued me. And she barked at me to put the mask on every step of the way.
I simply repeated to her that it was okay. Then I walked into the proper room and shut the door.
For the first ten minutes of my visit I was thinking that security may barge in any minute. But they didn’t. Though, I don’t think I’ll be welcomed back.
Now, I’m not at all a disagreeable person. I would happily wear a mask if there were truly a medical reason to do so.
But the research is very clear. Masks do not stop the transmission of aerosolized particles.
Two randomized control trials confirm this definitively.
The first trial was conducted in Denmark with about 6,000 participants. That was two years ago. The second was conducted on Paris Island with nearly 2,000 U.S. Marine Corps. recruits.
The data clearly showed that masks did not inhibit the spread of COVID-19. And our real-world experience confirms this.
If masks worked, we would have seen a dramatic drop in cases after mask mandates rolled out. But we didn’t. Cases continued to rise.
So why was this person aggressively trying to coerce me into wearing a mask? They don’t work. And all Covid-related restrictions have long been dropped.
I think the answer is simple. Some people are just like that. Sometimes life just wants to push us around. We all know what that’s like.
But there is an antidote. It’s financial independence.
When we are in a good place financially, we can retain much more control over our lives and our decisions. To me, this is the true purpose of money.
I care nothing for consumerism. I’m not interested in luxuries. What I value is freedom. And that’s what financial independence enables.
This is the driving ethos behind our newly revamped Finance for Freedom course. It drills into the fundamentals of money, finance, asset allocation, and investments.
The goal is simple. The course is designed to help people get a jump on their path to financial independence.
And we’re running a 30% off special this week. That’s in honor of all those times when life tries to push us around.
Just go right here for more information on Finance for Freedom. You can use coupon code “ER” at the checkout page to take 30% off the normal price.
Then let’s stand tall and tell life we refuse to be bullied around.