First of all I would like to ask, WHO ARE THE JONESES ANYWAY?  Where did they come from?  What makes them so special?  Why do I want to keep up with them?  Can someone please enlighten me???

Never mind the Joneses.  That’s what I have to say.  Why do we put so much pressure on ourselves everyday to be something that we aren’t?  Why do we put so much emphasis on material things?  We can’t take them with us, and they certainly don’t bring us more than momentary pleasures.  All things get old sooner or later and the cycle just continues.

I have a bit of experience with the Joneses you see.  I used to have a fancy job in the big city.  I did pretty well for myself and enjoyed a lot of nice stuff including, travel, restaurants, clothes, a fancy car, new technology, a large apartment, and just about anything I wanted.  Then one day it literally crumbled.  I lost it all.  Security is really a moving target.  You might think you have it all locked down, but it only takes one bad step to watch it slip away; sometimes it isn’t even your fault.

That’s life though…it certainly has its ups and downs.  Well, I picked myself up and brushed myself off and I found myself in a completely different life then I had ever imagined.  I was no longer living the urban dream.  When you live in a big city for a long time moving away isn’t always the easiest of things.  I cried and cried, and cried, and had a pity party for myself.  I missed the restaurants, shopping, and the buzz of the city.  I hated the pick up trucks and the lack of options that surrounded me.  But things were simple in my new life, and I had more time to focus on what was really important…rebuilding.

Just when you think you have it all figured out…you realize that you don’t!  Here I was living my simple little life feeling a bit like a fish out of water.  I felt as though I was in another country compared to where I came from.  I started to like the fact that people’s lives didn’t revolve around shopping and going out to eat. They couldn’t since there was nothing around but the big blue sea.  The transformation had begun.

Now my focus had shifted and I was living a new life.  When my oldest child started school I was shocked at what I found.  The Joneses lived in my new town too!  How could that be?  If they ever went into the city they would be completely overlooked and yet here they somehow carried some cache.  Lucky for me that I was over them.  I knew that what you have doesn’t make you who you are.  You are made up of your heart, mind, soul, family, friends, and the work that you do.  You are not what you park in the driveway.  I say we tell the Joneses to get a life.  I say we all focus on our own families and what is right for us.  Why give into the pressures of a superficial life?  That’s what it pretty much boils down to in the end.

We all have our ways to socialize and connect.  I spend my fair amount of time on Facebook.  Rebel Thriver has a page and a private discussion group for women.  The thing that I LOVE the most about FB is that we develop relationships with people not based on looks or class.  It is a level field for the most part and that is refreshing.  I care about who you are and your experiences.  I don’t really care about what kind of car you drive or the size of your house…that’s for the Joneses to worry about, not me.