I’ve been watching most everyone I know struggle to find a job, or if they do have a job they struggle to pay their bills on time or buy groceries. I am watching my family begin to splinter because we can never put aside our differences long enough to keep from fighting, and we’re getting tired of it. I’m apart of the problem just as much as everyone else, but I hate seeing my brother and my dad let loans get in the way of their relationship.
I look around and see that the lack of money is causing a lot of stress and involved in exacerbating our problems, so I’m beginning to stress about whether or not I’ll find a job or not… (I’ve been looking for about a month now). Unemployment in my state is supposed to be the worst, save for Nevada, or so I’ve heard. Is this what I have to look forward to as an adult? Hard times, just like when I was a kid, only now I am the one responsible for fixing things and making it work?
I expressed my worries to a friend of mine. She’s older than me but didn’t treat me like a child. She said to me, “Adulthood is filled with horrible things. If you can make it paycheck to paycheck you are doing better than a lot of people. Living paycheck to paycheck sucks but it’s do able.” Then she said “The job market is so small.. but that’s not really a reason to be discouraged. You will get something and be able to move away from home like you want to do. Don’t let the situation kill your drive. You have to stay motivated.“
And then I realized she was right. The whole reason I wanted to move away from home was to put myself in a more positive environment. My family isn’t all that bad, but our faults are wearing me down. I feel like we’re in a rut. If I let the unhelpful attitudes into my life, going to a different environment won’t help any. Who said I had to worry about these things? Worrying doesn’t get you anywhere. Hard work, luck and a lot of prayer is what has gotten me where I’m at. I owe much of what I have to people who for, some strange reason, decided to help me.
We earn money is so we can live a better life. If we worry about money and let that ruin our lives, we’ve lost sight of the goal. So I do my best, and then I take a break. I literally schedule time to not worry about things. When Shirley begins to fret about something I say wryly: “Not now, I don’t have worrying scheduled till 6 o clock tonight.” And when six o clock comes I try to constructively come up with an answer, or at least part of one.
So this is a shout out to my generation, and everyone else worried about that mysterious thing called “The Future.” You want to know a secret? Culture tells you you have to worry about these things, but you actually don’t. Also, they talk about the future like it really exists, but it doesn’t. Plan ahead, make sacrifices if you think it’s worth it, but never completely lose the present. It’s all we really have.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to be a rebel.
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