So back to my reflective blog I spoke about in my last Blog.
I have previously touched on the fact that I truly believe everyone is living the socio economic life that they are content with.
I believe that there are those who want a lifestyle of the uber rich, and will work extremely hard to achieve it. There are untold sacrifices, which they are aware of and are quite content to deal with. Their priority is live in the lap of luxury, have the best of everything and have life made a lot easier and ‘’less stressful’’ for themselves, than those with less. Don’t misunderstand me, I do not believe they live stress free lives….by any stretch of the imagination. Keeping up that lifestyle is by NO means stress free. Of course I think most people accept that this does also not necessarily mean you will have a ‘’happy life’’. But, that is what they aspire to, and that is what they are prepared to work towards to achieve. Kudos to them I say!!
Then there are those, who aspire to have life that is a lot simpler, accept (or don’t) that they will inevitably have a lot less and hopefully have ‘’less stress’’. Again…..their lives are not devoid of stress. The only difference is they have a lot less financial manoeuvrability than those with more money…..so perhaps more stress?
Then there are those who want very little, want to do very little and hope for a stress free and peaceful existence.
So, to sum up, I truly believe that the lives we live are, for the most part, the lives we have manifested (even subconsciously). This is the reason that I have no jealousy or animosity towards those who have more than me. They wanted it, they worked for it and they sacrificed for it. I am under no misapprehension that they are happier than me.
Now this is all content which I have discussed previously. This is not me repeating myself. No, this is me expanding on it due to a couple of events that made their way into my life recently.
Two situations bearing a striking resemblance happened to a friend and myself recently. Myself and my two children have not been on holiday for yonks. Every year, my mind has made plans, having totally decided that that was the year, places were Googled from August, road trips would be planned, and then……I start again the next August.
However, this WAS GOING TO BE THE YEAR!! So around August, myself and my condiments, Salt and Pepper, decided we all totally more than deserve a getaway. Three individuals with different wants and needs. But we chatted, and agreed on something that appealed to all our tastes, and more importantly to our budget. But having said the “b” word, does not in any way mean that we were feeling compromised or begrudged. On the contrary, we had planned a holiday that we were more than happy with, and were really looking forward to.
Now, what follows may sound like a spoilt and ungrateful brat talking. Many would roll their eyes and sarcastically utter the words “oh shame, you poor thing”, but this is where my discussion actually starts.
We were offered an ‘’upgrade’’ by someone, who had available accommodation that they were not going to be using. The dates overlapped with what we had already booked, and although it was very close in proximity to the area in which we had booked, it was WORLDS APART in budget. With our budget, we could only dream of booking a place like that. But the most important question, is did we dream it, WOULD we book a place like that, if our budget allowed?
The short answer is a resounding NO. The longer version is that, first off Pepper’s answer (my King Farouk) would unhesitatingly be ‘’ yes, definitely yes’’. If it shimmers and shines, tastes, smells or looks expensive, 100% yes. He would literally be content just to sit in this luxurious accommodation day in and day out, and breathe in the riches. Salt and I on the other hand, are looking for the experience, the adventure. It’s not about the luxuriousness of the accommodation, but rather the activities and encounters we get to experience. So, when we go back to our absolutely acceptable, clean and comfortable accommodation, that cost us a finger as opposed to an arm and a leg, we feel we have made some memories.
But having said that, Pepper can totally deal with the 12th grade accommodation we have booked. Sure, when he books his own accommodation in the future, it will be 12 star. This is what he wants, and this is what he will work towards. And please do not find me presumptuous, but based on my argument, this is what he will have.
Me ‘n my Salty, we just want happiness and peace…..no luxuries and holidays of the rich and famous. No sitting all isolated and cold in 5 star accommodation, eating 5 star meals (never as enjoyable as our non 5 star meals), and not absorbing the culture and surrounds of where we have chosen to holiday. No, we want all the memories of each unique destination….the people…the food….the culture….the warmth and the joy.
So having said all this….and back to sounding like a spoilt and ungrateful brat, this very generous offer was made by a third party. My first thoughts were, oh noooooo, we have already planned everything according to our budget and preferences! My second thought was, how am I going to refuse without offending this person? The latter was virtually impossible, as knowing the person, offence would most certainly have been taken. You see, the way a refusal would have been incorrectly interpreted by this well meaning person, would have been that I had stared a gift horse in the mouth. How could I POSSIBLY have wanted to refuse this exquisite accommodation over our average and affordable accommodation? It would have made absolutely no sense.
So I found myself in this ‘’predicament’’ of desperately wanting to refuse the offer, but knowing I had no choice but to accept. I had finally calmed down after making all our original bookings, knowing all was going ahead, and I could not back out for yet another year. This curve ball had me all panicked and riddled with anxiety, as I then needed to cancel some of our already booked accommodation, change our already finalised plans of dates, activities and ……well everything else that had been so neatly wrapped up, waiting for the day of unwrapping on our first day of our adventure.
But, me being my normal sick puppy creating unnecessary anxiety for myself aside, it really got me to thinking about people in a higher tax bracket than most. They just automatically assume that you did not book a certain type of accommodation because you couldn’t afford it. They just assume that lowly creature you, would do anything to be able to experience what they, the privileged few can. Presumptuous much? Offensive much? I am sorry though that they cannot comprehend the desire to live simple though. I find it quite sad really. Honestly, if the situation was reversed, and I for some reason offered them our accommodation, they would be horrified. There is no doubt in my mind that they would be totally offended at the audacity of me assuming that they would EVER feel comfortable with that type of accommodation. So taking that into account, why is it that those with more feel they have the right to look a gift horse in the mouth, but would look at you with utter disdain and be totally offended, even finding you most ‘’ungrateful’’ if you did the same, when the gift is up to their standards?? In what self-important and pompous universe is this acceptable??
As much as I am sure that there are those who would be having different holidays if their budget allowed, I still maintain that if they really, truly wanted it badly enough, they would have been able to achieve it. Perhaps that is what they think they want, not what they truly want?
But once again…..maybe that is just me?
Grumpymummy 