Who else sits around wondering – is it time to give up on the fairy tale?
Who even remembers what the fairy tale is any more? Ha ha! Old age has crept in.
As teenagers we all have dreams and goals. Mostly it’s what we’re going to do for a living. We decide to be a doctor or a lawyer or maybe a firefighter and figure out a way to go to school and make it happen.
I mean, no one in high school is thinking they’d like to work the counter at a fast food restaurant, pick apples, or work in retail. Well, unless it’s a management position…
Career path is one thing. Fairy tales are another.
I’m sure we all had that fairy tale dream of what our life would be like, where we’d be living, the things we’d own and the places we’d travel to.
Life doesn’t happen the way it does in fairy tales.
At least it didn’t for me.
WINNING THE LOTTERY FAIRY TALE
Winning the lottery is a common dream for many people. It’s also throwing money down the toilet for the majority of players.
Oh sure, from time to time there will be some enticement to keep trying to hit the big one. You win $10 or a free ticket to play again.
In the states, the big lottery is the Powerball, with jackpots sometimes in the hundreds of millions. When those news stories hit the news, Canadians who live close to border towns drive south and buy Powerball tickets too! Bonus for us – the winnings are in US dollars!
In Canada, the biggest lottery is Lotto Max, that is drawn twice a week. Every time there’s a winner, the jackpot resets to $10 million dollars. If there are no winners, the next draw has a higher jackpot, with $70 million being the highest jackpot available for winning. If nobody wins at that level, then the $70 million is still up for grabs on the next lottery date. When that happens, the lottery corporation usually adds in several $1 million dollar prizes. At that point, it might be worth spending $5 to play.
If your lottery habit is spending less than $50 a year, you probably don’t have a gambling problem.
Some people blow their entire paycheck buying lottery tickets.
Not a good thing. Don’t do that. $5 every now and then to play for fun with no expectation of winning a big prize is the responsible way to buy lottery tickets.
WHAT TO BUY WITH THE LOTTERY FAIRY TALE JACKPOT?
Just for fun – what would you buy if you won the lottery jackpot?
I think many lottery winners have similar plans with the winnings. At least when they’re interviewed holding that big check.
- Buy a new house
- Buy a new car
- Take a vacation
- Share the money with loved ones
That just seems like ordinary stuff, but who knows what they really do with the cash after disappearing from the limelight.
Powerball winner Jack Whittaker was already a millionaire before hitting the jackpot $314,900,000. Yes that’s a lot of zeros! He took a one time payout of $113,386,407.77 but said winning the lottery ruined his life.
And what would I buy if I won the lottery?
The usual. A new house. Maybe a truck instead of a car! Definitely take a bunch of vacations. And be a philanthropist and donate money to charities.
THE DREAM JOB
There are so many dream jobs out there and it’s all subjective to what the dreamer believes is their fairy tale job come true.
It all depends on life stages. A dream job in your 20s might be a nightmare in your 50s,
There’s a lot of things that people would love to get paid for doing and make big bucks doing it. YouTube star is a big one for so many people, young and old! Seems like an easy way to make money.
So does being an actor, a singer, a writer, pilot, pro baseball player, and so many more.
I’d love to have a high paying job as a chocolate taster or an ice cream taster. Hasn’t worked out for me so far…
Check out this round up of 50 of the coolest jobs in the world. Sometimes it not about the money; it’s about landing the fairy tale dream job.
And what would be my dream job? Hmmm… maybe being a personal assistant to Dick Van Dyke or another celebrity!
I used to think working in the travel industry would be a dream job. I was not tall enough to be an airline attendant so I had to look for office jobs in the travel industry.
Here’s a little known fact about the travel industry.
The pay sucks!
Low paying jobs with grouchy bosses. A little better than working in the fast food industry, but not much better. When it comes to stress, that is. When it comes to benefits, the travel industry has better perks.
MARRYING THE MILLIONAIRE
Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before:
Money can’t buy happiness.
But it can sure help afford your misery!
In 1993 I was on vacation in Hawaii for a few weeks, mainly staying at a friend’s condo in Kihei, Maui. Mornings were spent scuba diving and afternoons sightseeing, shopping, or at the pool or beach. I’ve only watched a handful of Oprah shows in my life. Not because I don’t like Oprah, but her show aired during the daytime when I was at work. This episode was about women who married rich men and/or women who aspired to marry rich men. It was entertaining and featured an author who’d written a book on that topic after marrying a millionaire.
I can tell you, I’m still waiting for the right millionaire to come along!
Business Insider says that the cities where the most rich people live are on the coast.
You’d think finding the right millionaire on the coast in the Greater Vancouver Area would be easy – but not so far! But then, I don’t look the part or the do what needs to be done. Generally I avoid going into Vancouver, and I don’t dress fancy or slather on make up.
The best places to find a rich man are by hanging out in an upscale restaurant. Maybe grocery shopping in a part of town where the most expensive houses are. Or walking the dog in those high end neighborhoods. I need to up my game!
THE SPANISH MILLIONAIRE
When I was younger I headed to Spain and got a job as an au pair.
My plan was to improve my Spanish and see the country.
And marry a millionaire!
I just knew he was there.
He had an amazing villa with all the modern conveniences on the Costa Brava overlooking the Mediterranean. It was on several acres with lush pastures where beautiful Andalusian horses grazed. He was a handsome man, a couple of years older than me. A successful businessman who was fluent in English, and enjoyed traveling, horseback riding, and playing soccer to keep in shape.
And we lived happily ever after!
Except – sob! – he wasn’t there!
And that one is probably the toughest fairy tale of them all to let go of!
GIVE UP ON THE FAIRY TALE
Fairy tales are wonderful. It’s the place where we have amazing lives, never worry about money, and live happily ever after.
But they’re not real.
Reality sucks.
It’s full of low-paying jobs, debt, no savings, health issues, loneliness, and so much more.
CONTROLLING MY FUTURE
Rather than waiting for the white knight to come galloping up on his grey steed (yes I love grey horses) it’s time to take control of my future and keep moving my life forward.
No man is going to rescue me. Maybe the only aisle I’ll ever walk down is at the supermarket.
Take ownership of myself! Keep kicking it up a notch! A reality check is in order!
Here are a few things I did to let go of the fairy tale.
I stopped reading romance novels. I’m sure I have a small fortune invested in Harlequin!
And that’s another fairy tale – making a living as a writer. I’d thought I’d try to recoup some of my losses by becoming a Harlequin author. I wrote them, but Harlequin wasn’t buying. Luckily, Musa Publishing was, but that’s another story.
Even though I’ve never had any work I could call a career, I always looked for ways to better myself and find higher paying jobs. When I was 20 I was working at McDonald’s, and now I’m on track to end my working days doing something more meaningful and better paid.
I’ve always known that I don’t need anyone to take care of me. Though I worry about becoming physically incapacitated as I age with no one to assist me.
Through necessity, I’ve learned more about finances, investing, and getting rid of debt. Once I became single again, the only person stopping me from controlling my finances was me.
Fear is a great motivator for losing weight. The doctor said I don’t want to get diabetes, and I agreed. Apparently I can control whether or not that happens. I lost about 35 pounds and have kept it off for two years!
Did life ever have a plan for me? Have I spent decades wandering around aimlessly lost?
I got myself unstuck, got better at making money, and pointed myself in the direction of happiness.
It’s time for me to trade in the fairy tales and hope it won’t be a bumpy ride.
WHAT ARE YOUR FAIRY TALES?
Once upon a time, I let go of my fairy tales and lived happily ever after. The end.
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on August 15, 2021.
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