i want to read more. i'm on spring break right now and i'm on my second 700 page book by john grisham. law subjects and other legal matters have always intrigued me for some reason, and i read ridiculously fast, so it's worked out well thus far. working out is also something that has plummeted dramatically on my priority list. my greed and insatiable need to be busy keep working nearly full-time at number one, school at a close second, my brief social encounters at third and anything i can justify as a priority fills every spot above working out somehow. as someone who thrives on motivation through fear of failing, you'd think i'd get it together. people who have time to get it together aren't busy enough.
i'm beyond tired of the northwest. i finally got to leave the city of seattle for the first time in 3 months when my roommate whitney and i drove down to portland to fly down to hermosa beach to get away. i hate not having a car to hop into whenever i need space and just go. instead i sit cooped up in an apartment i loathe or in the stark white, windowless room that is the computer lab at the art center and just listen to music. my schedule this quarter will be busier than last quarter though, so i'll have plenty of time to continue my streak of bad sleeping and eating habits, avoid home, and simply make money.
"life isn't just about money."
tell that to someone who doesn't have it, or isn't generous, and you'll suddenly realize that you have no work ethic, have never had to worry about money because it's there, or simply have not begun to fathom the future of their independent financial status- if it will even be independent. i'm not really sure why that phrase just rubs me the wrong way, but it does. obviously money can't literally buy happiness: a car, plane, boat, mansion.. but if i'm in my 30's and someone in my family or whoever is completely broke, i will be able to help them out, and that will make me happy. my grandpa didn't pay 30 grand a year for me to not amount to anything because i simply don't believe in money. money is not unethical, it's a product of ethics actually. not the root of all evil, evil can grow from nothing and as a result of a lack of money. i'm going to be doing something i want to do, and in excess. enough of the partying like i'm a sophomore in high school, i'm getting more and more over it the more that i go to, and as i should be, in my opinion.
save money, reach goals. it doesn't take a self-help book to figure it out. get more internships to gain experience and contacts, work your ass off so you can say you actually earned something in life.
don't get me wrong, i can be the laziest person ever- ask the people i suggest working out with. and say i got fat. i mean huge. but i was happy because i wasn't stressing over looking like a model or the people on the cover of cosmo. i ate what i wanted and damnit, i didn't need some anorexic introducing me to the endless flavor of celery sticks. well guess what, eventually the youthful metabolism shuts off completely and eventually the fact that i'm fat and happy really doesn't matter because guess what, i can't lift my arm to pick up my tri-daily milkshake. welcome back to the real world, where as you're 'happy', you're completely useless. because you lack the resources- besides your amiable demeanor and fuzzy warm heart- to effectively help someone close to you. why? because happiness doesn't usually cover a new car engine, a new washer and dryer, or unexpected debt. money does. and prayer, but i firmly believe that God helps those who help themselves.
a long-winded and rather choppy metaphor, i know, but isn't everything on here?
"God helps those who help themselves"
ReplyDeleteAmen.
You go nowhere if you sit on your ass and ask for handouts.
i'd have to disagree with this: people who have time to get it together aren't busy enough. IIII obviously dont have it together, but in regards to working out,i think you'll have a lot more time to work out once we graduate! but school/work really don't give you much time. But i mean my brother works hard and works out every day basically, you'll get there. Maybe we'll have rock hard abs after a year of no school, lol.. jk.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote this while we were in Cali I just noticed. i hate to feel like this is about me at all, but i'm sure some of it is. I know some of it is. I see where you're coming from, but I dont think it has to be such a bad thing.. you talk about work a lot, like it's very black/white. not everyone feels this way about work though (me) lol but that's okay. I hate feeling like I'm a bad person or i'm not earning anything in life because I'm 21 and in school/not supporting myself and not STOKED about working 8-5 MF for the rest of my life. just because I feel differently about work/jobs than you or my dad or other hard-working people doesn't make me lesser of a person. Everyone has to worry about themselves. Props to you for liking work/wanting to reap the benefits, that's normal. I guess i've probably been too open about how much i hate work, how much my parents support me, etc. but i guess i've always been open with friends, just hoping it wont come back on me, but they were probably just holding their tongues. Youre the only person I know that doesn't complain about work - that's impressive, but rare.
we were rasied really different, not saying that one way is right or wrong, but in ways my parents have set me up to struggle more in the future (as far as work) because i dont have a good work ethic because i havent been forced to pay for things. I'm not going to blame it on them, buuut.. you know what i mean. Also, I'm not going to refuse free money as long as i'm working in school/doing what I'm supposed to do to get myself out there so i can support myself. And I plan to get out on my own. I feel like saying "money isnt everything" is liek sayng "looks arent everything" to a fat girl. It's just to cheer them up. Money is obviously a huge part of life where we live and I know how lucky I am, trust me. I know i cant relate to people that have had to pay for their schooling, their cars, their textbooks, but I've lived in places where i dont meet a ton of ppl like that (SPU namely). Even my friends who have had NO money growing up, with single moms, they still get handouts from their parents/moms. Alot of it also has to do with the dynamic between the parent and their kid though.
Truly, I just want to be happy and to find something that makes me happy, but for me, it's going to be a hard, slow, long process because I don't know what that is yet when it comes to work. I just don't like feeling judged because from every angle there is going to be someone asking "so, what are you going to do now, when are you getting a real job? so.." I'd like to feel liek I don't have to worry about that with my friends though. I've been surrounded by people that care about money my whole life, I know about it, I've been there. Money is great for a lot of things, but for me, yeah, it's not "everything". I rather live somewhere in love and happy, than alone working my life away. It's all about what suits you though, what moves you forward in life. I know a lot of people that have had really lucky lives in the money department because their parents were rich and they have chosen simpler lives for love or because money was never that important to them. It always baffled/disgusted me, but everyone is different and I'm beginning to understand that. Priorities change. I.. obviously.. want to make more money because I want to do things/not worry/go places/buy people things. But that may have to wait awhile. We're all different, if we weren't, well ... that would get dull. Life is short though. I don't mind taking things slow. Member Tasha's advice, to enjoy each stage of life... the crappy struggling time after college, the making lots of money time..etc.
first of all, i hope you don't think that i think of you any less because you don't share the same views on work or money as i do. you're right though about the effect of saying "money isn't everything" is ridiculous, because usually it comes from someone who has never had to worry about it, or who can't fathom what it would be like to NOT have constant handouts. it's like if the skinny girl preaching that looks aren't everything all of a sudden got fat.. you know?
ReplyDeletei did write it in california, seeing as i was spending money left and right, and because it was the first time i'd ever truly compared the two of our financial situations, which was a bad idea because it ony made me frustrated. it helped me understand where you come from and how different our views are in that area though. it's all a balance though i guess.
my dad's always told me that your perspective on something can be dictated by your attitude. sometimes i dread the fact that i don't have time to do alot and instrad have to work, but i'm thinking about the payoff. it's kinda like your views on smoking, tanning, etc., how it might be "cool" now or whatever but eventually your skin is going to sag and your teeth will turn yellow. laziness is my smoking and frivolousness is my tanning [and i'm not saying YOU'RE necessarily frivolous, don't get me wrong, i just make it a point to be the opposite]. it would end up coming back to bite me in the ass when all of a sudden i wake up one morning and realize i'm completely self-sufficient. if i get used to relying on other people now, it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to change later on.
i kind of agree with you about your parents not exactly setting you up for a struggle-free future, but since you have acknowledged it don't you want to try and prevent it? for me, that's the hardest thing to wrap my head around.
i do need to slow down a little more and enjoy the experiences i have while i'm young as opposed to being obsessed with making money and growing up. it's hard to justify, but true. imagine if this whole long term mindset could transition over to saying no? i feel like i would be a completely different person.