Reality Check...
Feb. 4th, 2010 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenA friend of mine, who knows me pretty well, just gave me a good bitch slap - that I well deserved. My post yesterday, "Betty Called Me Out," at first was meant to be a jovial post about how young I feel in light of our cleaning lady mentioning that she was our age - and seems much older.
But, of course, I didn't give birth to two kids that I'm helping put through college. I don't work - right now. Or even when I do have a job, because I have "white collar" positions, I don't work nearly as hard as she does physically. She's also got health problems and "is" older than we are, even though we're all the same chronological age.
There are plenty of other friends of mine who are her age and have three kids and are mentally "younger" than her. They, too, have the privilege of being stay-at-home parents and doing things on the side. They're also not yet at the point of putting kids through college, which is a huge financial burden that carries a lot of stress.
I shouldn't have written that post or in the least, I should have expressed the gratitude that I feel daily that I'm able to do the things I want to do within reason. I considered removing the post altogether because the words don't reflect the real me or who I am at my deepest level. But I'm keeping it to remind me that - for this moment in time - I have it easier than a lot of people and shouldn't take it for granted. I really appreciate the reality check and being called out by a friend.
But, of course, I didn't give birth to two kids that I'm helping put through college. I don't work - right now. Or even when I do have a job, because I have "white collar" positions, I don't work nearly as hard as she does physically. She's also got health problems and "is" older than we are, even though we're all the same chronological age.
There are plenty of other friends of mine who are her age and have three kids and are mentally "younger" than her. They, too, have the privilege of being stay-at-home parents and doing things on the side. They're also not yet at the point of putting kids through college, which is a huge financial burden that carries a lot of stress.
I shouldn't have written that post or in the least, I should have expressed the gratitude that I feel daily that I'm able to do the things I want to do within reason. I considered removing the post altogether because the words don't reflect the real me or who I am at my deepest level. But I'm keeping it to remind me that - for this moment in time - I have it easier than a lot of people and shouldn't take it for granted. I really appreciate the reality check and being called out by a friend.
