Tuesday, December 2, 2014

It's all about money (and community)

I have learnt a very important lesson recently about money. Having enough money is completely dependent on your position in life. For example, when you live half the world away from home, having enough money means being able to buy a plane ticket for the average price without significantly disrupting your savings. If you can't afford to do that, then you need to start a more aggressive savings plan. I say this because when homesickness kicks in, it kicks in hard and you may need to buy a plane ticket and rush home for your emotional well being.

I guess this type of thing is distance related. If I lived in the USA, then perhaps there wouldn't be a strong desire to go home so often because home is more accessible from there. However, when you live far away in a very sterile environment, money becomes way more important. Money may be the difference between depression and happiness, tears and a smile.

Finding a family-like group of friends is also important, but in times of need, that can be even harder to find than money. As we grow older, friends become fewer and its not because they die. Friendships tend to die, leaving us for the most part alone. For this reason, age old wisdom has encouraged us to find partners, marry and have children. This practice, I believe is meant to help us stave off loneliness and create communities for us to belong to when old ones disintegrate.

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