I'm a millionaire at the young age of 30. I have a wonderful relationship with an amazing person. A house. Two dogs. Yearly vacations. I have made it in life. Land of opportunity and you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.
Now for the truth I'm 29 and a half years old. None of those things have happened. I have a few thousand in savings, three fish, vacations only happen within a 30 mile radius, and I rent an apartment. So why am I not an emotional mess and crying constantly? I already did that a few years ago.
I started telling everyone that I was going to be a millionaire at 30 when I was in my early 20s. I had these grand visions of what my life was going to be like. I had just graduated from college and felt that somehow my $12/hr job was going to turn into this lucrative lifestyle that I observed as I worked the front desk of a mid-rise condominium in a wealthy part of town. Any time I asked what I was going to do to make that much money, I always responded that I just knew it. I couldn't say why but I just knew it.
My family moved to The United States when I was nine. We didn't have much money and at one point four people lived in a one bedroom apartment. When my mother would get a new gig or we moved on up to a two bedroom apartment, I kept saying, "we are getting rich slowly," a phrase my mother still repeats to me to this day. I didn't know that getting rich slowly was a lot slower than I imaged.
"We are getting rich slowly." - Paul Feinberg
After college and several jobs later, I started finding myself closer and closer to that age, and not making any progress toward it. On top of that, I got involved in the flashy world of credit cards and was struggling to make a dent on my credit card debt and to pay my bills. Which takes me to January 1st, 2015.
I was paying my credit card, waiting a few days for the payment to process, and then using that credit card to pay my bills, until one bill arrived that I could not afford. It was between pay the bill or eat for the next two weeks. I sat there on my bed realizing that I was about to turn 25, still lived at home, with a Bachelor's degree, and not able to afford paying my cell phone bill. Realizing my dreams of being a millionaire at 30, or even fully employed at 25, were not going to happen weighed heavy on me and I began to cry.
I cried because my life was nowhere near where I thought it would be, but rather far from it. Not just far from it, but nearly the opposite of I found acceptable for a man that age. And it didn't help that my last serious relationship was three years prior (still is). I was at the lowest I had ever been at the moment as I sat there ugly crying at the fact that nothing I dreamt and hoped for was going to come through. The clouds gathered and decided to rain hard on me. But it didn't last long.
My mother spotted me, told me it was going to be okay, gave me some money, and from that day it all changed. I made a budget for myself. I paid my credit cards off one by one, added a little bit to my savings, made a little bit of investments, and crawled out of the misery I caused for myself.
Now here I am, a few promotions later and living in a nice part of town. I am almost 30. Not going to be a millionaire. Not in a relationship. Not living in a house I paid for or walking my dog in the mornings. But I am not miserable. Maybe because I know what miserable felt like, and this is far from it. However, I do still have goals of a grander life. Of traveling and living new experiences. Of finding someone to share my life with. Of getting that dog to care for.
The lesson I took from this mindset was that no one should stop dreaming. No one should cease wanting a life that would make them sit back, reflect, and feel as if they had made it. I still want all of those things that I mentioned, however what I now have is patience. Patience that if I work hard and diligent toward everything that I want, I will get them. Maybe not at 30. Maybe not at 40. Maybe not at 70 (if I should live so long). As long as I can look back and reflect and think I'm so much better today than I was yesterday, I'll be happy.
I'm not where I thought I would be, but I am exactly where I should be. I should be here. Living today. Reflecting yesterday. Patient about tomorrow.
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