Celebrating the Joneses

My neighbors have a boat. I see it from my living room window every day. Every summer, they take the boat out on the amazing lake we have 20 minutes from here and come back looking refreshed (and a little sunburnt) but so, so happy. 

My daughter’s best friend from school lives on 60+ acres and an incredible custom built house on their property and their own forest and creeks to hike in. 

Keeping up with the Joneses, which is always wanting to own or do the same things as your friends and neighbors, is something we all fall into when we see our friends and neighbors’ lives through a singular lens, the lens of envy. Sure, I would love to have my own boat and my own forest. But, their lives are completely different from what I actually want and need in my own life and I remind myself that Keeping up with the Joneses is a fallacy.

If I zoom out with a larger lens, I don’t actually want the maintenance costs of a boat, or the 60+ acres of land in fact. Those are life costs (in time and money) that I would not choose for my own life but I want to celebrate our neighbors and friends’ blessings because it brings them joy. Celebrating others’ wins is an incredible feeling- it reminds you of the many paths that we can all take with our lives and choices and grounds me on my own path in this life.

My dream would be to take my parents on trips around the world in their older years, and to have the ability to spend time with them as they age. I have to focus on what I need to do to make this dream happen. Right now. I’m pursuing other options for work that allow me more independence and the money I’d need to take them on a trip or two a year. That is where I will focus my energy on, how to achieve this dream, while celebrating others’ (including the Joneses).