Life. It’s All Over Me.

Life has been really hard over the past few days. Really, really hard. When an hour of staring at the laptop screen produced no words that made sense, I turned to a tried and true source – famous quotes. I found these quotes about life on Famous Quotes and Authors to help explain where my head is right now:

I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.
– Ashleigh Brilliant

Chris and I have been living paycheck to paycheck forever, but this past summer we got off track with bill paying, payday changed from every other Wednesday to every other Friday, and the gist of it is that we found ourselves with more bills than paycheck this past pay period.

The art of living is more like that of wrestling than of dancing. The main thing is to stand firm and be ready for an unforeseen attack.
– Marcus Aurelius

My husband works very, very hard at his job. He drives 40 miles each way, every day of the week, and because he’s on salary, he’s also on call at home, and often has after-hours server work to do at night. He earns a good income, it’s just managing it correctly that has been the problem.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
– Soren Kierkegaard

You know how it goes – you wish you could go back and live life again, except with the knowledge you have now. I hear it in my head over and over – if you had saved just $10 out of every paycheck you ever earned and Chris ever earned, and stuck it in some kind of investment account, you’d have a bazillion dollars and a lot less stress. And yes, I’ve read the Dave Ramsey book and no, I haven’t actually tried living it yet. But our pennies are about to get seriously pinched around here.

He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.
– Friedrich Nietzsche

What surprised me and made me proudest as a Mom was when Chris and I told the kids what the situation is and what we have to do to get out of it. Turns out, they don’t really care about the extra stuff we don’t need. All three of them were very understanding about our need to economize. Kaitlyn was so cute, while we were talking, she kept raising her hand and waiting to be called on to ask questions.

No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child.
– Emma Goldman

One thing I am most grateful for in my life is that Chris and I, when we found each other, we found each other for life. Things are stressful, yes. Both of us have been in tears more than once over the last few days. Voices have been raised, not in anger at each other, but at our situation. But after a particularly loud, hurtful, and stupid argument, Chris suggested that we make up a phrase to say to each other that when either of us hears it, we put the brakes on and agree to both stop being stubborn about making our point and just agree that we both have valid points. We’ve also been hugging a lot. Just hugging and holding and comforting.

There is no better exercise for strengthening the heart than reaching down and lifting up another.
– Anonymous

So, things have been bad, and we aren’t out of the woods yet, but we’re taking it one day and one situation at a time, and we’ll be okay. Broke, but okay. Whew. Writing this helped.

Elizabeth (1812 Posts)

I'm Elizabeth, a 40-something Michigan wife and mother of three. I created Table for Five in 2005 as a way to connect with other Moms, and I've been blogging ever since. Please click the About tab at the top of the page to read more about me and my family! email: table4five@gmail.com