Back in the day, I used to love playing “Life”. I even own the Pirates of the Caribbean edition. But the game isn’t so fun when you’re playing it for keeps. The “Real Life” where stock markets can crash and send the value of the house card you picked into the toilet. And whose little plastic kids from the game scream, whine, and throw temper tantrums.
Oddly, my real life is echoing the game a bit. Only the stakes are higher than just a bad spin. Remember the go to college card so you can get a higher paying job? Well, my husband lost his job in February. We decided that it was in the best interest of the family and future jobs to send him back to school to get a degree. He should be done in another 10 months. So until then, we are living on our savings and a sandal budget (we passed the shoestring point).
As I watch the saving deplete, I can’t help but wonder, did we make the right choice? I think so, and time will tell. But I still feel I am moving around the board waiting for one of those bad opportunity cards to smack me with a penalty.
Have you ever had to gamble a bit with your future, and did it pay off? How did you know you were doing the right thing?