Financial concerns are strangely universal. People in real poverty have it rough but ironically, others in a much more comfortable position spend a similar amount of time worrying about it.
I try not to worry about finances too much, but we’re not exempt. With both of us working full time we have more financial access than we’ve ever had in the past, but with what’s left of student loans and the cost of moving to and living in California and medical things and grown-uppy stuff, we’ve also had a more expensive year than ever before.
One thing that kept getting more and more expensive was the cost of hanging onto my car. I realized if I were to do everything I needed to, I would’ve spent the equivalent of a down payment of a newer car that didn’t need a bunch of work. So over the weekend we got a pretty good deal on a pretty lightly used Sentra.
This weekend made me feel so privileged… that we have the means and opportunity to solve a problem that simply. That to us, big financial concerns are still a long ways from threatening anyone’s survival. That statistically, we have it easier than almost everybody else, even if it doesn’t feel like it on a day-to-day level.
Perspective matters. It’s harder to be generous and compassionate when daily concerns make us forget how good we actually have it.