We all know the saying..the grass is greener on the other side. I feel like it should read a little differently like,…the grass always appears greener on the other side. It seems like no matter how good things may be in our own life, we want what someone else has. But if you take a closer look…you’ll oftentimes find that what you have is pretty good. Or you’ll find that the grass over there…it’s full of weeds, or it’s turf and not even grass at all. I think this falls into almost any category you can think of. When I was in highschool I had a girl that I wanted to be like her. She had it all, money, clothes, looks, her hair was always done, she lived in a nice neighborhood. But that doesn’t mean she had a better life than me. It doesn’t mean that she lived in a nice household. Just because she lived in an expensive house didn’t mean her family was doing well with money. I’ve watched a lot of shows, like Oprah, where you’re going into these families lives…the families you strive to be…the Jones’…and you pull back that curtain, to the family that looks perfect…they have a beautiful home, well-manicured lawn, 2 or 3 nice cars, nice clothes, all that…and then when u take a closer look–the parents or kids are on drugs, the parents are having affairs, they’re in debt up to their eyeballs, trying to keep their house from being foreclosed on and keep their cars from being repossessed. These are just a few examples of what I’m trying to say.
I know for me specifically, my greener grass is when I’m riding in a neighborhood and seeing all these beautiful homes. And here I am just able to afford rent with my other bills, I can’t even fathom how these people are affording to be in these expensive homes. Well thanks to the news in the past year or so, we know now that they’re not affording to be in these homes. They’re living beyond their means. But knowing that doesn’t make me want it any less. It still makes me envy what they have. One thing I don’t envy tho…now that I work where I work, is people who are driving Mercedes, and Jags and Beamers…uh no thank you, you can have that! I don’t think it’s necessary to drive around in a house payment. I don’t care how much disposable income you have, unless you’re high on that corporate ladder or a celeb, paying a mortgage pymt for a car, in my opinon is absurd! I mean it’s a car for crying out loud! I totally don’t feel you should be pushing a jalopy that’s gonna fall apart if you pump the brake too hard…but it shouldn’t cost you an arm every month when you make that car payment either. The more pricey the car, the more pricey it is to maintain the car…that’s a little tip from me to you, put it in your pocket! ha!
I have a friend who is single and really wants to be settled down and married starting a family. And being married, and being that person at one time (except the single part, I’ve hardly been single in my life–not necessarily a good thing) who couldn’t wait to be married with kids…I tell them…don’t rush it. Enjoy your life being single. Sure it’s hard seeing your friends getting married and you feel like you’re stuck without any real prospects at wifey material. To him, he wants my life (not my life exactly, just married life! lol) To most of us married folk, at times, we want to be him. We want the single life. You always want what you can’t or don’t have. It’s too much to ask to be content with what you have. I’ve come to the realization that the grass isn’t ever greener on the other side. Just like real life isn’t like The Cosby Show or Leave it to Beaver. Far from it. How in the world did Clair Huxtible make it from day to day being a lawyer with 5 children and having a doctor as a husband, when those kids were younger??? Much easier to show it from an older established family with mostly teenagers. Roseanne was much more realistic. And you know what, both families had a lot of love, they both had issues they had to face…I digress..I think I’m getting off topic…the point of the story is, be thankful for what you have. Sometimes you’ll be faced with situations that will cause you to question what you have. It’ll make you want what the other person has. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Because sometimes you need that to happen in order for you to realize that you are already blessed with what you have. And that maybe you should appreciate what you have more, be thankful for it, because there’s someone else who doesn’t have that, and to them you have the green grass. There’s always someone who has less than you. Be thankful and appreciative and don’t take what you have for granted; whether it’s your spouse, you parents/family, your job, your home, the list goes on and on.
Leave a Reply