In no particular order
1) I've been told time and time again (and felt so myself) that we are one lucky double to be as well off financially as we are. The thing is, being fortunate doesn't mean my feelings are invalid. It's natural to worry about the future. I shouldn't berate myself for being worried just because I am fortunate. They are not mutually exclusive. People of all economic, or social demographics worry about different things. The emotion is the same, and I can be empathetic to anyone who feels stressed. I feel like I have more perspective on this now. When someone who has more than me worries, I can see that it can come from a place of insecurity. When someone less than me worries, I can know that worry can be all consuming.
2) I know that it's pointless to worry. I knew that before, really. But I've come to a place where I can say, if I'm meant to loose everything I own, then that's the way it will go down. I'm not in control. I certainly hope that we won't loose it all, but anything in life is possible. It's through His grace that we've had what we have now.
3) Insecurity and depression are areas I need to work on. This might just be a dry run. Someday the stakes could be higher. Someday my mother will pass. My children may have illnesses. I could get sick. In many ways I could face greater hardships. While I'm not glad to struggle now, how horrible would it be to face those things without any practice in dealing with misfortune?
4) I need to keep planning for emergencies. Maybe I won't ever be the most frugal person on earth, but if ever there was a time to recognize the power of a savings account, this has been it. Whenever my husband does have an income, I will be looking at ways to increase our monthly savings. I'm not sure what that will look like, but it needs to happen, even if that means someday I'll need to change my own employment.
5) I need to find better (and more) ways to keep on giving. Thinking about what would happen, how life would be if we didn't have savings to fall back on (or another financial disaster looming around the corner) I've thought about how so many people live on the edge. While I still maintain that we are relatively middle class, maybe upper middle class, but certainly not rich, the number of true middle income earners has been dropping. Not many people could float as well as we have (or maybe they could and I'm being elitist?) and if we needed help, what is out there available. Donating kids clothes, giving foods to charity, supporting charity organizations, it's all part of our financial portfolio that I want to work on. Considering I'm also aiming to increase savings, it may take a while before I figure all of this to, but I am 100% certain there is more that I can do. And while I can forgive myself for not doing more now, I know that when things stabilize a little bit more, I will have the strength to add more to my to do list.
6) it's okay to cut back on commitments when I'm stressed. Not everyone is going to understand why I do, but self preservation is important. There is only so much energy I can place into the world, and I'm okay with prioritizing. Maybe as I figure out life a little more other things will reach a higher place in my life, but I need to be emotionally healthy for anything good to happen.
I'm sure there are more lessons to learn, but those are the ones so far. I remain hopeful for the job search to be over soon, and prepared for it to continue.
