Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What stops us?

Every week, D buys a lottery ticket.

Every week, we fantasize about where we'll live, how we'll quit our jobs, where we'll go, which trips we'll take with the kids, which ones alone. How many houses do we want, and where?

Now neither of us ever expect to win, but we rationalize the dollar or two on a fun dream-filled (very similar to cream-filled, but without the calories) conversation.

However, what really stops us? I want to work part-time, so that I can be home with the kids before and after school and prevent them from having to go to extended day-care.

D wants to open his own business, both of us working together, so that I can accomplish the more important parts of the previous paragraph, and so that we can stop answering to someone else, stop busting our butts to make money for someone else.

So, what stops us? Is it really about the money? Or is it about taking a leap of faith, without a safety net?

3 comments:

Chickenbells said...

The fear of failure?

Owning your own business is a different set of challenges. You may not answer to someone else...but you will if you rent your space, or have to buy your goods, or rely on the public
to frequent your establishment, do you rely on any kind of health care? Want to save for retirement? Pay your own social security taxes and then pay them again? (the gov. requires you to do that if you're self employed...yay. fun.) It seems like we always have something or someone to answer to...I'm not saying that it's not good to work for yourself, it's just a different set of challenges.

I figure life seems like a huge series of leaps of faith...did you KNOW with absolute certainty that you were going to be a good mother? Do you know that you will tomorrow? Nah...you just DO life to your best ability...but, I've never heard of anyone laying on their death bed saying, "man, I wish I would have lived safer, and took less risks!"

This is why I hate to answer questions like, "if you had all the $$ in the world, what would you do?"

Because I know the answer would be...DO IT ANYWAY!! (which is easy for someone else to say right? But, I think it's just fear that holds us all back in the end...)

thatgirldina said...

what she said.


haha! :)

alienbody said...

I'm a leaper, the kind of person that jumps in with both feet. The kind of person that looks at all the whole picture AFTER I've hit the water. I think that is one of my better qualities, but also one of the worst. If I could send you some of if,I would....because you over think while I under think. If anyone can pull of working part time and managing a household on a limited budget, you can. If anyone can co-own a business and make it work, YOU can.

The money won't balance out completely, but there will be some savings if you are not working full time. It will be tight, but you can do it. I say make the leap. I have total faith in you.