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GUEST ARTICLE
This is another post from preppernation.com
*Today I want to share an account of a young man that I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. This is a specific young man that I’m going to refer to but I think he is representative of most any young man starting out in life, at least for the majority of the timeline we will be examining. *With wide eyes and a healthy sense of immortality this young man leaves the security of the life he has know. Properly prepared to move forward in life having been trained by well meaning, loving parents to always make the right and moral choices.
*Our young man was faced almost immediately with a life changing decision. What would he do to provide himself a living? It seemed that there was two main options for him to weigh as he made this critical determination. One, he could move directly into the work force, taking an entry level position and advance slowly as he obtained his skills on the job. Or two, he could continue his education for the next several years and secure a college degree, allowing him to achieve the higher level employment positions later in life.
*Our boy decided to make the right choice and continue with his education. After enrolling himself in a 4 year program at the local State University, he threw himself into his studies. His diligence paid off and 4 years later he was awarded the degree he sought, graduating with honors. Atta Boy!
*With his degree in hand, he set out to locate a firm looking to employ an honorable hardworking man such as himself. It would take a bit of time to secure the right position with the upward mobility opportunities he was after. That was alright as this was an important decision and those student loan payments could be deferred for a while yet, at least until that perfect position opened up. So our guy, always up to the task, made the right decision and took his time looking for the sweet spot.
*OK! Now, he had arrived. A large corporation swept him off his feet, offering him a rare position in a department that had plenty of ladder climbing capacity! They were giving him the recognition that a talented graduate deserved. He would be working with some of the big boys and be expected to keep up with the team. A real high power crowd, expensive suits and spendy automobiles would be required to make the right impression on the clients. No problem, gotta dress for success! Our newly employed young man, found that the car dealers and mens furnishings store credit departments had nothing but confidence in him and his blossoming career years ahead. They laid out the trimmings he would need for a successful appearance. They even offered him the option to hold the costs over for 90 days. This would allow him the time he needed to find his groove without the payment pressures to distract him!
*As we all would expect him to… He made the right decision! It took no time at all for our rising star to begin to make his mark on his new company. Sunshine and roses, it was all falling into place, just as he had planned.
*Our young man, like most that will answer honestly, was looking forward to finding the perfect little gal to make his wife. That was the next item to be checked on his to-do list. Wouldn’t even consider it until he had the means of supporting her but that box was now checked! Like a smart fella he knew he wanted to find a wife that would be his equal, intellectually. What better place to begin his search but back at his almamoder. There was a lot of bright, beautiful and eligible young ladies back in those stacks!
*Once Prince Charming began the search, it didn’t take long to identify his choice. A wonderful girl that could not have been better suited to our guy. They had similar upbringing and views on family matters, even attended the same church denomination. Like “Mr. Right”, our gal had nearly completed her degree and would be graduating with honors in a month or two. Of course the addition of a second debt for her college degree would accompany “Ms. Right” into their new marriage.
*It was a whirlwind romance and the “Rights” would be married early the next fall. These were the best and brightest, real smart kids and they wanted it all to be perfect. Why wouldn’t they? They had played by the rules and made the right choices and worked hard to achieve each accomplishment they had! They deserved their happiness! They had the world by the tail and the blessings of everyone…
*The wedding was straight out of the brides dreams, not to big but at the same time couldn’t leave anyone out. The costs did mount as the “Rights” made all the final arrangements. The brides family did what they could financially and the kids made up the difference for the overages. It wasn’t lavish but did leave them a credit card bill for over 15K, once the romantic tropical honeymoon was factored in. They thought that it had all been pretty reasonable, considering they each had known friends to spend much more on their weddings! All said and done they had shown exceptional maturity and restraint in their spending, everyone said so! *They setup housekeeping in the responsibly located condominium that our good fellow had rented to be near his office. The work load and sales appointments could keep him well into the evening during the weeknights. It was for a good cause and would pay dividends down the road with the big bosses. Mrs. Right was ready to begin the search for her career entry point now that the wedding was wrapped up and they had her settled in her new home. The weeks seemed to roll right on past and our young wife was thoroughly enjoying her new role as wife and homemaker to her fine hardworking husband. It was the right thing for her to want, to take good care of her husband. She did spent time regularly looking into what her employment opportunities were but her heart just wasn’t really in it. She was married now and that was after all one of her life’s big dreams too? A husband and some children of her own, eventually.
*Our happy couple had a great relationship and our guy was really enjoying the benefits of having a loving wife waiting for him when he walked through the door each evening! He was doing well at the firm and was making more sales as his experience grew. Seeing his wife bloom in her new found happiness and with children to come, not to far into the future. He thought it would be the right thing to do offering to have her stay home full time, if that was what she wanted.
*They had agreed that she would just take her time making up her mind about the career. They really were enjoying these traditional roles and having a great time together. Neither of them could believe that it would go so quickly but they rounded the corner on their first anniversary in no time flat. Since a career choice hadn’t made it to the top of the list for his bride, it seemed apparent that she was going to be content being his wife, full time. This wasn’t a problem as she was far exceeding his expectations and making him very happy.
*As they entered their second year of wedded bliss, they decided that they wanted to open the discussions of their future family. They agreed prior to marrying that they both did indeed want to have children but it was the timing that was still up in the air. Since she had decided to make marriage her career. They felt it would be the right choice to move forward with the plans to start adding children to the family.
*They agreed that the condo wasn’t the right place to be raising children, so they began the search for a home that would meet the needs of a growing family. They talked with their parents and examined two possibilities. Either they could rent a home or go ahead and make a home purchase. All parties agreed that a purchase would be the right choice. In the long run they would regret making rent payments and having nothing to show for it. The monthly expense would be a bit higher but they would be gaining equity!
*In the city where our couple currently lived, homes were appreciating rapidly. Many trendy areas and it was common for the home sellers to receive multiple offers as soon as they put their homes on the market. Our young family wanted to continue living in the area, it was close to Mr. Rights office and seemed like the right thing to do.
*A few short months past and our kids found out they were indeed expecting a delivery very close to their second wedding anniversary. That was wonderful news, the home they had selected was on an extended closing and the time period would work perfectly to have them moved in before the baby’s arrival. Everything was working out just right…
*The happy couple had decided to save every penny they could and put them into a special savings account. They would then use this small fortune as their down payment on the house. There goal was to have a full 10% as a down payment, they had always heard from their parents that this was the right approach to home ownership… However, this required that only the minimum payments got made on all of their debts. They didn’t feel like this would be a great set back as they had only thoughtfully made credit purchases and always for the right reasons. In their two years of marriage they had accrued only a relatively small amount of credit debt including the wedding expenses, honeymoon. Take those few things away and all they had was the student loans and Mr. Rights “work” car… They felt a degree of pride as they continued to make all the right decisions, even though they had many friends from school and the office that were living far beyond there means…
*Their home purchase closed and the family to be completed their move from the condo in plenty of time to prepare for the baby’s arrival. Their friends and family had been incredibly generous at the baby showers and they had most of the things the book said they would need. Just a few odds and ends to pull it all together, this added only a small additional balance to the credit card. No big deal as that total would have been a much larger amount if they hadn’t been blessed with generous friends.
*Baby arrived “Right” on time as expected. They were the perfect family, enjoying a new home and all paths appeared to be leading to green pastures. The next several years went smoothly and according to plan. The “Rights” added a second child and Mr. Right was upwardly moving at the office. Life would always have the unknowns and they would field a curve ball from time to time, like most families. A replacement car would be required for their growing brood. The occasional upgrade of work related expenses, the usual office dress attire or newer model automobile. These were acceptable expenses as it takes money to make money or so the theory goes. A second set of this or that, now that there was two children… We all know the drill, always something to keep a young family busy and often broke! No, not broke in the traditional sense but more monthly expenses than ideally planned for and seldom that extra payment per year toward the mortgage that was suppose to happen.
*Mr Right was very happy with his life and family, overall! He did however begin to grow weary of the long hours that the company and clients demanded. He began to find his mind wandering to other activities that he would do if he only had the time. Being the good husband and father, he put his personal longings for a change of pace down into the deepest parts of his soul. Better he keep these desires to himself and not risk appearing to have lost track of the right priorities. *The family continued to grow, as the years went by… The happy couple had welcomed a third and final baby to their home. Mr. Right knew in his heart that he had made all the right choices and wouldn’t consider doing anything to upset the delicate balance of their happy home. He had successfully denied the feelings he had been having for years, even his wife wasn’t fully aware of the quite desperation her husband felt.
*Things at the “Right” household were sustainable as long as Mr. Right continued to run through his life at the breakneck pace he set for himself nearly a decade ago. In the beginning, it was all new and fun climbing that ladder to success. Our boy climbed, year after year and right choice after right choice. *He realized that he would have to keep this up, want to or not! He had three little mouths to feed, all under the age of 8, a wonderful wife that didn’t ask for much for herself but wanted good things for their children. That, of course, was understandable and the right thing to do, as well! Amazingly, the careful credit usage habits that had been a source of pride only a few years ago, had none the less mounted into what came to well over a 100K dollars of debt. Largely this was due to the student loans for his and Mrs. Right’s education. They had both believed these debts a cornerstone of their career investment strategy. Two car payments and a 30 year house note with 25 years of payments still to go. His having made the right choice and kept only one credit card in the house might have been a comfort, except that ONE had a balance of nearly 10K on it… Sales continued at the office but it seemed that other than keeping up with the standard demands on his income, our young go getter wasn’t making alot of head way. At about the time a good run of sales commissions would come through he would find that it was time to purchase a this or put a deposit on a that. Always for a reason and as ALWAYS the right thing to do.
*A short time has passed and this brings us near the end of this story about the “Rights”… We now find our eager young man in quite a position. He awoke one day and looked around at his unfamiliar almost puzzling surroundings. There was no one with him but he also was not alone? He had a peculiar feeling that he new where he was and he tried to focus his eyes on a strange pattern in front of him. It was a grid of bars, a long row of vertical slats that he was staring at that gray day… How had he gotten to this place of despair, trapped inside this cell? He closed his eyes again and allowed his mind to find its equilibrium.
*He began to regain his bearings, recognizing that he was indeed in a cell. The cell was the one he had built himself, one right choice at a time. Brick by brick those walls went up, willingly up and up they went. So high had these walls gone that now he had no choice, he was trapped. Trapped in a cell behind these bars, the bars also of his own making! This time in an even more literal sense, the bars he saw before him weren’t made of steel, they were of cedar. The bars were indeed the white picket fence in front of the house where our young man lives with his family. He had somehow fallen as he left the house for another evening at work, away from that family! Sadly, he picked himself up and continued on as this wasn’t just a dream – It was much worse, it was the – AMERICAN DREAM!


Submitted for your consideration!

Prepper