I’ve been thinking a lot about personality lately and how it determines a lot of what happens in our lives. People from the same background, even from the same family (like mine), end up leading very different lives.
More than that, our personalities being so individual, lead us to do things that we
know are mistakes but for some reason, can’t help repeating over and over again.
No, this is not another PF lecture on NOT keeping up with the mythical, perfect Joneses, but more that each one of us is trying to find our own nirvana, and in doing so, we look to others as role models to see what sounds interesting.
This is a more introspective post to keep myself in check, as I can sometimes get carried away with my rather strong views.
For some of us, it might be that we always seem to go for boyfriends who are underdogs or losers, and for others, it is that we are so impulsive, we don’t take the time to review decisions we make, even though we know that it doesn’t turn out well 50% of the time.
The one thing we all have in common is we’re all trying to create the perfect life.
I for instance, was initially inspired by the idea of being able to save a lot of money, and if I didn’t spend up to the maximum of what I earned, I would be able to laze around and take time off. This appeals immensely to the rather lazy side of me I try to keep under control.
As a result my perfect life is not to obtain all the toys in the world before I die, but to work a truly balanced life (half the time, apparently is my idea of a “balanced life”), while sacrificing massive closets of designer clothes, fancy cars and so on.
…not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you. What I consider MY perfect life is not someone else’s.
My brother is really into the “good life” as he calls it. He loves going to 5-star restaurants with his wife, taking exotic vacations staying in 5-star hotels, and living in a huge mansion with 2 luxury cars. He’s willing to sacrifice his time to work harder to pay for all that, because he sees a value in it for himself.
Which brings me to the actual point of why I wrote this post: Why are we all trying to force the idea of OUR perfect lives on others? Specifically, am I doing this to everyone who reads this blog, and why do I do it?
It kind of irks me when other people force their lives down on others and berate them if they don’t follow that script.
You know the script:
“You can’t enjoy life until you’re debt-free.
You can’t do this.
You can’t do that.
You shouldn’t be wasting your money on frivolous items.“
This is the reason why I also chose to name the blog “Save. Spend. SPLURGE.” with an emphasis on the SPLURGING because there aren’t many PF blogs out there that really talk about enjoying your money after you’ve saved it.
Most of the blogs I come across talk about pinching your pennies, investing your spare cash, and basically depriving yourself to get the highest net worth possible, in as little time as possible.
It’s like we forgot that the whole point of saving money is to spend it.
That said, I am aware that I am rather hypocritical in this kind of criticism because I already lead a pretty privileged life — not having to work the whole year, and only needing about 3 months of income to cover my expenses is I daresay, VERY privileged and unusual.
If everyone had my situation, maybe you’d all be a lot more laissez-faire about spending (splurging on expensive trips and things!) while not working, right?
This is the reason why even though t I feel as though that I am striving to perfection in my own life, I am trying my best not to force my views on other people as the ONLY way to do things, but it can be hard to stop.
Yes. I am rather militant on eating very good, natural foods, or avoiding toxic chemicals that we haven’t done enough research on as a society to use on ourselves, and thinking about others (Third World slave labour), as well as the environment in our decisions, but these are things I feel as though are decisions that everyone should strive towards.
I want to try and be as objective as possible to acknowledge all the other sides of the story, but there are just some basic facts of life (in my opinion) that can’t be refuted.
See, if I asked someone: Is an apple healthier than a bag of potato chips or a candy bar? Everyone would say “Yes” without question, which proves my point that eating good, healthy, natural foods would be the best thing for your body even if we don’t follow such diets or want to change our eating habits.
For me, trying to live a perfect life is impossible.
I already know that, yet I try my best to reach it, and I suppose all I really want is others to see all the mistakes I’ve made, learn about all the things I’ve been enlightened about, and to be aware of what they do, even if they don’t care to change.
But is all my talk about eating good food, being eco-friendly, being conscious of others in the world, and avoiding unknown toxic chemicals out of prudence a little too akin to ramming what I personally think is a “perfect life” that people should live down people’s throats?
Food for thought.
