My husband and I were on the phone with his sister, MaryJo, last night until 11:30 pm. It was great catching up with her since we didn't see her for Christmas and hadn't connected with her since last Christmas. MaryJo said some words of wisdom that stuck with me until I felt I had to write about them in my blog post this morning.
My husband, MaryJo, and I are all in our fifties agewise and MaryJo was telling us about a friend of hers that she was concerned about, who was also in her fifties. Her friend just left her teaching career to start a new job in sales. Now there's nothing wrong with reinventing yourself in your 50's but she said that her friend was struggling to make ends meet and needed to sell her home.
Considering her friend's situation and feeling sympathy for her, MaryJo stated, "I want to be taking life easier in my 50's; not having to strive so much."
I couldn't imagine the pressure her friend must be feeling to not only have to learn a new trade, produce for the company AND find a home she could afford while trying to make ends meet.
My husband and I have been working out our budget for years. For the last 10 years, we've had an emergency fund of no less than $18,000 put aside in case of, well, an emergency. We don't make a lot of money either, but we feel this is important for our stress levels. We also just fully funded our retirement accounts for the third year in a row; well, so we can retire someday.
In my golden years, I don't want to be striving in order to make ends meet. If I choose to strive, fine. But MaryJo is right. I think our golden years are meant for pursuing our work passions and hobbies, enjoying our relationships, laughing at the days ahead, and waiting in expectation to meet our Lord one day.
I do pray it works out for MaryJo's friend and that she finds her peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment