I was rummaging through old backups and came across what appears to be a journal entry from years ago. I’m posting it here in case anyone wants to read it.
I suppose you’ve heard mention before of the little man’s paycheck. About having to make a choice of where you want to go once you’re out of school. What you may not realize is how important your decision is. You can either survive at a minimum wage job or you can live much happier with a lifestyle that lets you live.
Surviving
Think of this. One hour, and a half… $35 dollars. What I’m not mentioning is that the price charged was being generous. When I first came to school I had worked all summer at my first real job, and didn’t really know much about the value of the all mighty dollar. I was working near forty hours a week and making around $400 dollars every two weeks. I had a wrecked car to pay for and a falling apart truck that I couldn’t really trust. Being young and naive was something I was quickly growing out of. I was quickly learning that I wanted to live, and not just survive.
It seems that with knowledge, many options become available that normally you wouldn’t have. All this time, nearly a year and a half, I have wondered where my studies would come into play. Where my knowledge would make me into something other than a common worker. Now I’ve had a chance to step out on my own and make the choice between surviving and living. I’m slowly crawling out of the Survival mode and working on Living. Perhaps I’ll see it sooner than I think.
Living
For the longest time I never cared about money. I had my needs taken care of by my parents. I had plenty of wants. I learned to get over it though. Small jobs kept my budget somewhat decent. Now I have bills. I work only two days a week, sometimes three resulting in a very low paycheck. Not much can be accomplished other than bare essentials. Most of the time those are either not quite met or are not met at all.
I quickly learned that surviving wasn’t all that great. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one to come to this realization.
But when I did, it hit hard. I realized that though money wasn’t everything in this world… it definitely was very important to pay the bills and pay back what you owe.
So I’ve been lucky enough to have a close friend, Mr. Purvis, bridge the gap for me. I didn’t realize my own potential, and with my outlook on a lot of things I probably wouldn’t have been willing to trust myself and take that first step. He believed though, and with my first job easily completed I gained a new respect for what I’ve gone into.
It’s fair to charge someone for honest work. It may be somewhat expensive, but if you don’t give them what is fair for the trade, the next person likely won’t. So, I’m making a living off of giving a fair deal, and furthering my studies of my trade.
Though I’m not yet out of the rat race running round’ the pennies parade, I’ve found a way to live, instead of surviving.
