Keeping up with the Joneses
Growing up, our parents would tell us, “We don’t keep up with the Joneses, we are the Joneses.” But that was to get us to stop bugging them to get them something our friends had. But keeping up with the Joneses is a genuine middle-class conundrum. There is an element of pressure not to be left behind. There is a fear of exclusion if you can’t meet the criteria of your peers.
So, you’ll be driving home from work one evening, and you’ll see that your neighbors have had their roof painted. You’re worrying about how to pay the utilities this month, but you immediately shift your concern. Now, you are worried about what you’re doing wrong that your neighbor’s doing right. How can they afford to have their roof painted when you can’t?
Now it’s going to make your roof which is in need of a coat of paint look even worse. How can you work the finances so that we can have the ceiling painted soon? What will the neighbors say if your roof continues to look so shabby?
These are real thoughts that the common experiences.
In fact, they can keep you awake at night. Where you’re going wrong is comparing yourself to others without the full facts. What if your neighbor came into an inheritance and used some of the money to have the roof painted? That’s at the expense of having lost a loved one. The members of the middle-class need to learn to ‘stay in their lane.’ Worrying about others and what they have is a pointless way to spend your life. The amount of stress and anxiety you’ll feel is self-inflicted. It does long-term harm to your body. You could decrease your lifespan by worrying about what others have that you don’t.
The members of the middle-class need to learn to ‘stay in their lane.’ Worrying about others and what they have is a pointless way to spend your life. The amount of stress and anxiety you’ll feel is self-inflicted. It does long-term harm to your body. You could decrease your lifespan by worrying about what others have that you don’t.