Self Improvement In a Troubled World
Are you feeling overworked and jaded? Do you feel mentally drained and tired most of the time? You try and try different things to cope in life but no matter what you do, nothing works. Life is just the same old dim reality it has always been. Do you feel stuck in a rut and hopeless? Can't say I blame you.
Over the decades, eking out a living has become increasingly tough for the everyday consumer. The vast majority of us are being pushed nearly beyond our physical and mental limits just to get by. It seems like you need a college degree and a professional occupation just to afford a roof over your head.
Yes! Life has become dehumanizing and unforgiving for the average individual. We\ve been taking regular human beings and turning them into robots. Nowadays it seems like it isn't who you are, but what you've got that matters. Top-notch performance is crucial and there is little or no margin for error. And this all leaves us feeling like we are inadequate and whatever we do, it just isn't enough!
Unfortunately, not everyone has the aptitude establish a professional career. We mustn't forget that there are a lot of not-so-perfect, sub-par people in this world just trying to get by. But with a little luck, a kinder consumer environment, and maybe some professional support, many of them can live much better than they do now.
And by feeling inferior, how can you even think of self-improvement?
Allow me to state my point of view on how our economic climate has changed and what affect it has on us. I'll start out by making a comparison of two fictitious families: one for the 1950s and the other from the present.
A Typical 50s Family
Tom and Mary Wilson, a young couple living in the outskirts of Chicago live a nice peaceful life in their $12,000 1 1/2 story house, yeah, a suburban home with a white picket fence. Tom works packaging parts on an assembly line in a nearby toy factory while Mary is a stay-at-home mother. Mary takes care of the two children, John and Sara while Tom is away at work.
Tom's income alone is sufficient to support this family of four sufficiently and still tuck away a few dollars for savings. He plans to remain working at the toy factory until he retires, and chances that he will are good. But if Tom and Mary plan to add an addition to their home or save for an overseas vacation, Mary may take on an evening part-time job to help save for these things.
A decade from now John and Sara will be teenagers and have plans to go college once they graduate high school. After school, each John works as a janitor at a factory and Sara is a waiter at a nearby diner. While working, each is able to save money which they will use to pay tuition. Over the years, their parents have saved for their education to ensure they'll have enough money to complete their degrees.
A Present-Day Family
Fatema and Khalid Chu, are a 30-ish couple living in their $725,000 home in Los Angeles. Khalid works full-time as a paralegal at a nearby law firm and Fatema is an elementary school teacher in a school 15 miles from their home.
Both parents work days and thus must drop off their kids at a daycare center every morning. Sometimes Khalid must work up to 12 hour days and Saturdays. In the evenings he works as a business consultant. Each day when school lets out, Fatema picks up the kids, but then hires a sitter while she works the rest of the day as a Lyft driver. When they both finally get home, it's time to put the kids to bed.
By Sunday, both parents are too tired to spend time with the kids. Jood and Ahmad feel unloved and neglected as they must keep each other company. Several years go by as this work pattern persists. It's like they've been raised more by daycare staff and sitters than by their own parents.
It's all they can do to pay the bills. Taxes and insurance keep going up on their home and both cars as well as HOA fees. Daycare and sitters have become so expensive, that maybe Fatema should stay home and raise the kids. But making that change seems like too bold of a move. Finally, the cost of groceries is nearly going through the roof and the family must cut back on snacks.
Over the years both Khalid and Fatema have lost their jobs by no fault of their own. Either they are forced to accept lower paying jobs or consider changing their occupations. This happens several times as the children grow older.
Now let's fast forward to a year when the kids finished high school and become young adults. Both Jood and Ahmad have plans to go to college, but for what? They both strongly feel they need a professional career to survive in the real world.
Tuition is astronomically high. Fatema and Khalid were unable to save for their kids' educations so they're pretty much on their own. As each attends college in their mid-twenties , they amass a great amount of debt in student loans. Both must work nights too, just to cover their living expenses or live with mom and dad. Realistically, it may take as long as 30 years to pay off their loans.
What's Wrong With This Picture?
Now, I only know so much about politics and the economy, but I would sure like to know one thing: How did things get like this? And why can't we seem to manage today the way we did decades ago?
For all I know, maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect that greed is a big culprit behind these changes. I don't want to stir up emotions, point my finger at anyone, or drop names, but as I understand it, many people with the power to set prices on various goods and services have or are unjustly enriching themselves. I can't say who exactly and I don't want to place the blame on our president or past presidents nor either the Democrats or Republicans.
There are a vast amount of services and commodities we need (like online tools) that greatly appeal to our personal needs. Many of them require a monthly membership or a one-time purchase, or even a commitment to a long-term contract that is hard to get out of. And many of these things are priced highly for what they are. Also, we're committed to paying their fees whether they really help us or not. Or whether we always need them or not.
Still, there are other factors besides greedy crooks that have messed things up in our economy. Since the 1950s there has been a great influx of immigrants who moved into the US. And with our great population growth, the number of houses built hasn't kept up with the number of people who need them.
Meanwhile, a vast number of jobs that were once done by people have been replaced with machines and other forms of modern technology. E-commerce stores have flourished, stealing business from traditional brick and mortar stores. And with jobs going overseas and buildings that were once shops have become vacant, communities nationwide have been left in a state of ruin.
But overall, the US has become a materialistic nation. Larger homes were built, families went from owning only one car to three or more vehicles, bigger and better appliances and electronics have become more abundant, etc, etc, etc. Along with that came the desire for most to become wealthy and live a lavish lifestyle. Keeping up with the Jones nearly became a normal standard. People were spending plastic money more and more to buy things to impress others.
Our dream of becoming a glamorous society was like a bubble that grew and grew and grew to a point where it popped. Natural disasters occurred regularly making food and all other goods more scarce.
In a nutshell, most everything was getting out of control and has thrown our economy out of whack. Much of this is attributed to continuous inflation.
That's my understanding of how this all happened and that's all I'll say.
After all, my blog is not about world news or politics. Though I do welcome comments, I don't want my readers to become emotional and send me angry replies bashing political figures or businesses. I won't respond to them.
The Need to Be Self-Sufficient
And what does all this have to do with self-improvement? Simple! As I see it, most adults need to have a sense of independence. Knowing we are capable of earning a decent income in which we can support ourselves and our families gives us a true sense of self-worth. Establishing and maintaining a career gives one a sense of pride he will likely carry with him the rest of his life.
On the other hand, if one finds he can't seem to find or hold down a job too long, such a person becomes frustrated and loses all self-respect. He feels inferior and thus lacks of sense of self-worth. Those who must turn to public assistance to meet their basic needs (food, shelter, and clothing) are least likely to have a sense of self-worth than those who don't.
Of course, no matter how good you are in your occupation, you will find some areas you need to improve in. We all have weaknesses and character flaws and thus, have some room for improvement. Granted, we all faced challenges to get to where we are today. Nobody's perfect!
But before you can consider self-improvement, you need a sense of self-worth. You must believe that you can make a change and by doing so, you can become a better person. And I'm not saying you must make changes overnight. You need not take expensive courses, obtain memberships to expensive services, or even join a gym. Those things work only as well as you're able to make them work. And if you lose interest in them or find out they're really not for you, that's just money out the window!
Start out small if you must. There is a saying that goes: A journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.
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