Is that all there is...?

That hadda hurt. 

Finally pulled the trigger on the 401K yesterday. Everything is going to be fine, I told myself again and again. This was always the plan, right? To save up and put that money away and never think about it again. It was there for “retirement,” whatever that was. 

 It’s not surprising then, to feel some misgivings about finally breaking into the vault. I’ve spent a lifetime watching the balance in the 401K go up; it’s unnerving to see the numbers now go down. It feels like a violation, a sacrilege. 

 It feels, too, like an acknowledgement: This concise little dollar amount doesn’t have to last forever, does it, because *I* won’t last forever. It’s sobering to be reminded that one has a “sell by” date, and that it isn’t as far off as you’d like to think.