"What I really want," I told J some months ago, "is security. I don't have any desire to be wealthy or wear designer clothes but I want to know I have enough money to do what I want when I want. When I retire I want to own the roof over my head - if we don't have to pay rent or a mortgage we can live pretty cheaply."
"I can understand that," J said. "But look at yourself now. You are lying on your couch with your cat and your knitting watching Midsomer Murders having just eaten a wonderful dinner cooked by your husband. AND we have dark Lindt chocolate for desert. Tell me - is there really anything else you want right now?"
************
Fast forward four months and the stock market has crashed even more spectacularly - 45% since this time last year. I'm glad I'm not facing retirement in the next few years. I can close my eyes when the superannuation statement arrives and tell myself this will all be a blip in 25 years time.
I'm glad my job seems relatively secure; that the new CEO likes me; that all my hard work over the years is paying dividends. Too many people, often undeservedly, are losing their jobs, not through any fault or greed of their own but because they were in the wrong company or industry at the wrong time.
I think back to my accounting graduation during the recession of 1992. "Get into insolvency," a young Turk from KPMG told me. "It's a dynamic and growing industry." I don't think he realised the irony of what he was saying. But who am I to laugh? He's probably managing the section now, making more money than I could ever dream of.
Whereas I am in a job I love, where I am respected, with a husband who loves me, a comfortable house, wonderful friends, the two best cats in the world and enough DVDs and books and knitting yarn to get through the recession of 2009 without having to buy a single thing.
Life is good.
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2 comments:
Amen to that, sister! :)
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