Freedom!!

This morning on the radio I heard a commercial for a seminar on financial freedom.

It sounded kind of enticing.  But, being the incredibly superstitious girl I am, whether it’s from being raised by a mother whose mother was Eastern European, or just my nature, I couldn’t stop wondering what would happen if I suddenly really DID have financial freedom.

Like, I sort of began to panic.

That can’t be normal, I know.  Most people strive their whole lives for this particular moniker.  ‘Financially FREE’!!

But, like I said, my overactive imagination (or superstition) kicked in and I thought, in the rocky seesaw of life, what gives for me to gain something else?

If you are wondering what the hell I am ranting about, let me present:

Brittany’s Seesaw Of Life

It’s very simple.  You cannot have everything.  We all need to sit down and stop pretending like there’s a way to have it all.  I believe, from watching a lot of Oprah and studying people all the time, that the harder you try to have EVERYTHING, the worse you start to feel about yourself. 

Like, did you know that social media like Facebook- a platform created to connect with friends, actually statistically makes you feel worse!  Because people are bitches and liars and don’t realize what or whom they leave out, whether purposely or accidentally, can actually make other people feel like dirt.

But as much as we KNOW that people are their own very best PR firms, and are only highlighting themselves at their best, we keep striving to keep up and find ourselves more and more unhappy.

And, I mean, how many uber rich people are 100% happy?? Well, I don’t actually know this but I’m assuming ‘money can’t buy you happiness” didn’t write itself.

And how many dirt poor people non-Facebookers do you see that are happy?? Well again I don’t actually know but those who travel to Africa (ok fine, Oprah again) and see people with very little speak of their innate happiness and contentment with what little they do have.

So logically (illogically?) I subconsciously took stock of my life.

Happy marriage? Check

Healthy kids, husband and Me? Check (also knock on wood.  Which I knock on both wood and my head because it’s what my Eastern European Grandma did)

Great friends, family, and passion for life? Check

Money? Welll…. Enough to sustain us.  But, as Ecard wisdom would teach, whenever I feel the urge to be sporadic, my bank account reminds me to settle the fuck down.  Can I pay my mortgage, car payments, kid’s activities and the odd vacation? Yes.    Am I brunching with girlfriends while my kids are at home with my nanny on my way to my personal trainer? No.

So in the grand scheme of life I find myself happy, healthy (but not skinny.. that’s another balance of superstition and weirdness I have. ) with family and friends that are like family, the ability to ride out my passion for horses (literally) buuuut not overly free in the financial department.

So within my skewed logic I ask myself, what would I have to give to GET MORE!! In this case, financial freedom. 

The simple answer is nothing.  So, in the carefully balanced seesaw of life I’ve worked hard to procure, I can’t exactly add anything without taking anything away.

Now, if my friends and family suddenly become assholes, I’d be willing to put a little weight back on in the form of cold, hard, cash.  But until now, I’m happy with where things are sitting.

However, should there happen to suddenly be a longer, perhaps more sturdy seesaw worthy of displacing all that money on it without any ramifications, I would happily oblige. 

 

The following are exhibits illustrating what I am NOT willing to give up.