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The Great Thing About Having Been Poor!
DaltheJigsaw
Mountain View Veteran
Comments
It caused a lot of problems for us when we were a couple, trying to figure out how to live together and what were our necessities... A pool and gym just weren't on my list like an extra $100 in my pocket every month was, lol.
A. Be a billionaire for the rest of your life but with no inner spiritual life.
B. Be a Pauper for the rest of your life but with a deep well of spiritual wisdom
...no, there is no option c. Lol
L_A, I think that's a pretty easy question. B, for me. I haven't been around that long, but I know enough to know that money can't buy happiness.
And yes @zombie girl, that famous philosopher Biggie Smalls
Having money allows me security of mind (not having to worry about where the next meal comes from), and I can pursue some of my more expensive hobbies with ease.
"Temporal hapiness" yes, as the Dalai Lama describes this is what people acheive when they operate under ignorance, mere breaks from dukkha and not a decent solution to suffering. It continues with the next material object or the next moment you are looking forward to and the next person which will make everything better.
But then I go back and am happy with what I have and my one fancy treat (fake nails, so nice and otherwise I bite mine). It is all good.
Wouldn't that be hot? Ask @Aheerdt.
I however had a very cute partially shaved head (under a bob) and did it in a bathroom near the venue that was a movie theatre back in day (for Rocky Horror Picture Show every week) and now is a pretty decent place for concerts. Too bad my parents did not take pictures of my phase.
It is hard to raise kids who have been taught they have a say in their lives some days, better in the long run but geez, trying to get them to take out the trash turns into a philosophical argument.
Lets see, we have used regular school glue, hard setting gel and a spray of the infamous aqua net. I should get some photos of when my daughter had hers 12 inches high and her tattooes. My middle kid and oldest have the facial peircings and stuff, okay middle kid is making her mowhawk into dreads and it looks really funny.
Since our split up, there have been a few times that food was a little scarce in the house, but as long as I have enough money to feed the kids, keep a roof over their head in a safe neighborhood, and keep them clothed and all that, then I can still smile and be happy. I maybe a little tired and worn out sometimes but happy.
However, I am still considering minimizing our lives even more, and take my son on the road, living in a RV to see some of the more beautiful parts and people of the world. City life and the rat race here is so depressing, and it seems my children have never truly felt happy.
(My daughter is 21, so unless she wants to come along it will just be me and her brother.)
I personally had always planned on living in an RV after the kids were grown and on their own, but they didn't know that. I am not very good at staying in the same place very long. In fact we have live here 5 years, which was the longest I have ever lived anywhere since I left the farm at 19, and joined the Navy.
@Thailandtom...(blush) I won't cut it. You know how panic attacks can be. Its been exactly 3 months since my last crazy episode...
@ThailandTom I have gotten to do some wonderful things. I am those things will come up over time. No point in spilling all my mysteries in one night.
How old are older kids? My little one isn't really all that little he is 12, and eldest is 21.
My husband and i are still on the poverty level... and now we have his 16-year-old son living with us, who has known 3 holidays abroad, a year, with his mum, skiing and whatnot.... he has none of that now, and i think he misses that.....
I've just been paid, and already, I'm overdrawn.
I can't think of anything really good about being poor, except that even with money, I've been shit-scared of spending it, and have become obsessively frugal....
All my clothes are second hand, and i feel guilty even window shopping.
I'm not going to get into a "I'm poorer than you" 'pissing contest' because i do agree that much of it is personal perception, and perspective.
there may be something to be said about the fact that in some places, it's 'easier' to be poorer, than in others....
Karen Kingston, a Fengh Shui and space-clearing guru, lives I think in Bali, for 6 months of the time... and in the UK the other half of the year.
in the UK, she lives in a 2-bedroom, Victorian mid-terrace house in Barnes, with a back garden, and a drive to put her car on....
In Bali, she lives in a one room shack with her B/F, who rents scooters out to tourists in the summer, and they spend their whole time on the beach, living on fresh-caught fish, and local produce....
she adapts her lifestyle according to where she is, and says that life is much simpler, in Bali, and more 'baggaged' in London.
I guess it depends then, on being able to take in a broader perspective.
I take your point @ThailandTom, I truly do, but I'm just wondering whether our different lifestyles and environments might also be a factor of ease or difficulty....