You Know, Your Life Is Great
Hello Saturday night blog post!
I mean, why not?
This is my blog, and I’ll blog if I want to!
Besides, I’m babysitting right now. And the kids are nodding off to sleep leaving me to do whatever. And by whatever, I mean go on the internet.
But really I just want to share a quote from a blog post I just read and loved. It’s from Elisa from Opelia’s Webb, in a post about location independence haters.
What irks me is the condescending soapbox that some will stand on, making comments about how I am living a somehow less or shallow existence by not experiencing what you have chosen as your experience in life. How dare you tell me that my decisions aren’t challenging me enough or letting me take chances or spread my wings.
Just because travel to unknown places and destinations is what pushes you out of your comfort zone does not mean that it does that for the rest of us. I am actually more comfortable in a place I know nothing about with the ability to be a totally new person than I am in my own city.
Maybe, just maybe, some of us are challenged and happy in lives that involve such horrors as settling down or starting a family or *gasp* working 9-5 in a cubicle at a job that we LOVE and are advancing quickly in. It’s almost like we need many different types of people in the world to make it a more interesting place.
It used to be that young professionals dreamed of picket white fences and a pension. Now it’s entrepreneurship and location-independence. The latter is no longer “bucking the trend” it’s “drinking the Kool-Aid.”
I don’t hold any hate for the location independent people I encounter. For many, however, I choose not to listen when you tell me my life isn’t good enough and yours somehow is.
That really got to me. I’m definitely in the self-employed wannabe entreprenuer camp. I also love to travel and I’m freaking moving to New Zealand in September. I love my life and think it’s awesome, but I also appreciate that it’s not for everyone.
My chosen lifestyle is a little bit different than most of the people I know and that is okay. While I didn’t find fulfillment in working in an office full time I know that some people do. While I wanted to move multiple times and couldn’t imagine living in my hometown forever, some people love never moving in their life. Some of my best friends are people that will never move from this town/state. They are wonderful and completely fulfilled in their own lives, just like I am fulfilled in mine.
I would never try to act like my chosen path is better than someone else’s, quite frankly because it’s not. My road might be different, but it’s no better. I hate when people act like their lives are better than someone else’s. In the blogosphere this happens A LOT. Bloggers are generally a narcissistic bunch who think they have special insight to share. This is a beautiful thing as long as they respect that their way is not the only way. This doesn’t always happen and it has forced me to stop reading quite a few blogs in the past.
It’s simple really… As long as your lifestyle makes you happy then it is the right one. Enjoy it, embrace it, live it. Your life is great. If it’s not making you happy then make changes. But never fall into the trap of feeling like your life isn’t awesome just because someone else has a superiority complex.
Mary – Thanks so much for the pingback! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and it resonated with you.
You are SO RIGHT. It happens far too often in the blogosphere. I don’t know if we all just get caught on our soapbox platforms and a little too full of ourselves, but it’s something I’ve definitely been guilty of.
Granted, I’ve never sent a sniping and malicious email to someone out of it, but to each their own I suppose! :)
Our happiness will always lie within us. Whatever we learn from others we should accept as guides and not as something that will perfectly fit our needs. The important thing is that we take the risk of following what we aspire in life instead of following blindly the suggestion of others. :-)
I want a job where I could be anywhere and do it.. That would be fun. Barring that, just some job where it’s not a cubicle. Still, I would get homesick if I’m running around the globe with no friends and family near me. I know some people who do that. I know a dj who travels the world. Doesn’t he get lonely? Everyone you know is all together hanging out and maybe its not the most exciting/best thing ever but theyre all together and having fun. And you’re in some awesome exotic place, but there’s no one there to share it with you. Some strangers.
On the other point.. I definitely do think that some of my paths, say like living in a city, are better than other peoples. For me. I totally get that some people love to be like my sister all owning a house in rural nh and homely. I don’t see why that appeals to her, but I see that it does appeal to her and other people. That’s why its super interesting for me to read people’s blogs. I like learning how other people live, and what it’s like, and why they like or don’t like it. That stuff has always been interesting!
For quite a long time I am longing for a career as a travel writer, so I can travel and work work on my way, it seems quite hard as this point for I did not find a good way to monetize my blog.
Mary – Thanks so much for the pingback! I’m glad you enjoyed the post and it resonated with you.
You are SO RIGHT. It happens far too often in the blogosphere. I don’t know if we all just get caught on our soapbox platforms and a little too full of ourselves, but it’s something I’ve definitely been guilty of.
Granted, I’ve never sent a sniping and malicious email to someone out of it, but to each their own I suppose! :)