It is easy to fall into this "stuck-rut." We see our friends and colleagues and we compare ourselves. We drive descent cars, but they drive luxury cars. We buy small bottles of grey goose, they buy HUGE ones. We rent, they own. We vacation once a year and it takes all of our savings, they vacation quarterly. We own hand me down furniture, they own Pottery Barn. We make $X a year and they make $XXX.
It is tough and discouraging. It is hard not to give up. It is hard not to say "why me?" We both work hard, extremely hard, and sometimes it feels like we have nothing to show for it. A crappy apartment? A truck that breaks down all the time? Barely enough money to buy our vacation tickets? It is hard to get excited over those "prizes" that we have earned. We want to be up there with our friends. We want to feel like the money we are earning from our hard work is going in to things we want, not just bills and necessities.
I know we are not alone in feeling this. But it sure feels like we are in a dark and shitty situation that is worse than everyone else's when we go to buy our vacation tickets and then BOOM, the prices of airfare have jumped significantly, and oh wait, Mr. G's truck brakes broke. Now we have to wait for another paycheck to come in before we finalize our vacation plans. It just isn't fair, and when it rains, it pours.
However low we may feel, we need to stop and see the bigger picture. Sure, we may not be laying on a yacht in the Caribbean. We may not be as good looking as you, as wealthy as you, as skinny as you, or as funny as you. But we have our crappy, two level apartment with a working bathtub and a dishwasher. We have a grill and a patio set. We are going on a week long vacation this summer. We have been to 42 states. We are both healthy and employed. Mr. G can relax in his kayak on the lake after work. I can smell the smells of summer and taste the delicious foods from the farmers market.
And we have each other. The love and support, the kisses and hugs. The sighs and the laughs. The hope for a brighter future.
They may seem like simple things, but we have them and we appreciate them.
Thanks for listening,
Defeated
meh...I feel like I bring in a decent sum of money. I don't feel strapped for cash. But right now I'm freaking about about not meeting deadlines, screwing up the biggest project our business has ever handled, and having maybe bitten off way more than I can chew.
ReplyDeleteRight now I might be willing to trade my porsche for the luxury of not working till 2am and then dreaming about my projects when I finally fall asleep every. single. night. We run off to vacation all the time. Can remember the last time I didn't work on vacation. This past weekend I worked on the beach. Sad.
What is it they say about the grass????