The Quiet Hustle

I will admit that I think I should be further in life than I am now. That I should be living on my own somewhere, making a lot of money. It bothers me a lot sometimes that I’m not. I feel like I am behind in life. I actually feel like a loser.

I have a full-time job, pays pretty good. But in today’s economy, it’s not enough. So as a result, I still live with my family, at 37 years old. Yes, I know.

I see people online, they seem to be well off. Living on their own, making good money. I know I shouldn’t be comparing my life to theirs, but I can’t help it sometimes. I’ve been on my own before, but my circumstances were different and, it was before the pandemic in 2020. I even had a partner at the time, unreliable, but a partner.

I think the issue is while growing up, we are all taught that we need to have our lives together by a certain age. Before thirty to be exact. Go to college, get a degree, make a bunch of money, know what career you want, move out of your parent’s house at eighteen, etc. That may have worked out for some people, but not me. Sometimes I think about going back to school, maybe someday I will. But working a full-time job, it might be too much. Also, student loans are a big concern to me.

But sometimes I think maybe I’m not doing so badly in life after all. Maybe this is where I’m supposed to be right now. Not rushing and making bad decisions I’ll regret later, thinking I need to “catch up.” I’ve already made plenty of bad choices because of worrying about things like making enough money to live.

So, I decided to take this time to get myself together financially. Maybe instead of feeling defeated, take this time to prepare for a life of independence and learning how to make my money go further.

I think budgeting is a good way to start. It will help me to keep track of my spending and see what I can live without. I have also started canceling subscriptions I don’t use, like Netflix and Disney+. Got rid of Paramount+ too.

Also, I finally started a blog. I’ve always wanted to be a blogger. Problem was, I didn’t know what to write about. I’ve had several ideas, being an introvert, living an unconventional life, etc. I finally decided to write about being a late bloomer, being introverted while living in a society that expects me to be a social butterfly and figuring my life out.

To me, being a late bloomer is about realizing where you are now, and where you want to go. It also means that I’m not falling behind in life, I’m where I’m supposed to be and maybe life isn’t as cut and dry as we were taught to believe.