Why I'm Saving

Why I’m Saving
A few years back when I was in the military one of my Sergeants compared being in the army to being in prison…He had a very good point. First of all we were standing on a hill top in a third world country under very difficult conditions. He quickly ran down the list of, we don’t eat what we want, sleep when we want, wear the clothes we want, or basically do anything we want…He wasn’t complaining, in fact he was one of the most pro Army soldiers I ever worked with. It was just how he looked at it. It was hard to argue. I think I said something like, “yah, but we have guns.” We had a good laugh.
Bottom line was that he felt like he was in prison because he had no choices. This really stuck with me. During my time in the military I learned so much from the people who were on my team.
Although I would never truly compare my life to someone serving hard time in prison I still think about what he said to me that day. By all accounts I have a great job. I have a boss who loves me, pushes for promotions and gives me large raises when he can. But I still don’t have the freedom of choice on any given day. I have to go to work to get a paycheck. I don’t get to wear what I want or keep the schedule that I want. I often have to jump on a plane at a moments notice to attend meetings putting my entire life on hold until I get back. Again, I have a great job but I don’t have the choices that I want. That is why I am saving. I don’t want money... I just would like to have more choices in my future. Maybe take a job that truly inspires me instead of a job that pays me the most amount of money...The list of choices seems endless. It would be nice to have a few more in my life one day...