Not Always What You Think

23 Aug Not Always What You Think

Some people’s lives are not always what you think. As a child I was often surrounded by two types of people: Children who had money and children who didn’t. I guess I should say parents, not children. Though, they didn’t make it seem that way. I grew up with two hard working parents who stayed within or below their means. Now that I’m older, I truly appreciate those values that was instilled into me from birth. When you’re a teen, you never truly appreciate your parents in that moment.

I wouldn’t say I was a horrible child. Honestly, I think my parents lucked out with me. That’s said because I was fairly quiet, I didn’t ask for too much, I was never interested in going out and partying or drinking, and I kept out of trouble at school for the most part. Temper tantrums weren’t really a part of my personality. That’s a huge part of growing up. Another huge part of growing up is learning the difference in what you think makes people happy and what truly makes a person happy.

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I’ll explain. As a child I had friends who I admired a lot. They seemed like they had it all – the perfect life. They went on trips, took dancing classes or gymnastics, kept up with latest trends, etc. I knew I was different from them all though. Not just because my parents didn’t care about trends, but because I actually didn’t either. I remember wearing clothes that didn’t match because I loved how they looked an how I felt in them, but people would put me down because of it. I remember being so excited to go to the beach for my first time, only to have other people try to one up me by saying they went to a tropical island. It was a constant game with people and I didn’t like to play.

Now that I’m older, and I guess even when I was younger, I can see when people are truly happy or when they’re just spitting off whatever they can to make themselves sound better. I had a friend who essentially fabricated their entire life. Starved themselves to be skinny and lie by saying they worked out hard. Dyed their hair and routinely kept up with it so people would think they were a natural. They even went as far as stealing things to make themselves appear like they had top quality items. In the end, it really didn’t matter.

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It was all a show. That’s the problem with people… they think that being better or having the best material objects truly make them something special. If you strip all of that away, what do you have left? Who are you without these items? These are also the same people who are absolutely miserable with their life but cover it with lies to make it seems like its much better than it is. They make people who are truly happy with nothing feel bad for it. Should you feel bad? No, not at all. Love what you love and screw what others think. That’s truly hard when you’re younger, though.

I remember an old friend of mine telling this elaborate lie right in front of me and the entire time I was thinking, “Why?” What is the point and why do people have such a hard time telling the truth? Am I not imaginative enough? I hardly think not. I guess I’ve always been the type of person that would rather not try to remember things that didn’t actually happen. It’s a snowball effect and it just gets bigger and bigger until one day all your lies crush you and you can’t actually remember how any of it started.

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I truly feel sorry for these people. I feel sorry that they’re not truly happy with their life. What I have to say to that is, if you’re not happy with something… change it. It may be hard and you may have to swallow some pride to get where you want to go, but if you are making up stories about your life then you need to just change it. Stop talking about the life you wish you had and go out there and actually do things to achieve the life you’re wanting. I can guarantee that you might change your mind along the way or even hate it when it comes.

Anything you buy or own can be taken away at any moment, whether that be getting robbed, your house burn down, floods, etc. Nothing is permanent and you have to learn to live within or below your means. I often hear people say “I make all this money and have nothing to show for it.” What do you mean you have nothing? You have a place to live, right? You’re healthy, right? You have a car dogs, clothes, food, etc. Money is just as disposable as any other material object. It comes and goes and you don’t have to have a huge house or a fancy car to “show”. It’s such an odd concept that people are so concerned with what other people own. Who cares. Don’t compare yourself and base your self worth on the amount of objects you have.

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Your self worth comes from your heart and mind. Learn new things every day. Be kind, charitable, and loving. Most of all, be yourself because in the end that is the only thing worth a damn. Your legacy.