The above image shows me packing my car in an early morning – around 06:30 am ish. What I have is my surfboard, lunch, study materials, and Jiu Jitsu gear. A typical work day for me goes like so – I wake up, pack up my stuff, head to the beach to go surf, dry up and go to work, then after work, go train Jiu Jitsu to choke some guys out (much needed after a long day of work), go back home and pig out on some food, shower, sleep, do it all over again. My explanation might sound mundane, but it’s very enjoyable despite working an average Joe job. There’s really so much to look forward to in each subset of items throughout my day – surfings, Jiu Jitsu, and even eating.
It seems like there’s a never ending debate on how money can’t buy happiness – or how it can only buy happiness up to about $70,000. There may be some right and wrong in that. At around this income, one is able to do a few of the hobbies they want, with the sacrifice of having their day job take away most of their time. This is essentially the advantage of working a relatively well paying middle class job in the United States.
If you’ve grown up to a middle class or to a lower middle class income family, you don’t really have much control over what you can and can’t do growing up – its indirectly all related to your upbringing that your family puts you through. If you’ve wanted to do a certain hobby – whether it is playing an instrument, a sport, or want a certain video game, growing up, it is not up to your control to be able to get such a thing.
Fast forward to high school / college, you’ve now been able to secure a part time job – a whopping minimum wage (maybe even serving at a restaurant if you’re lucky, raking in them tips) Hello “broke college student”. Its a term you’ll be hearing very often whether on facebook or talking amongst one of your friends in class.
You’ll likely be making anywhere from 10~15 an hour depending on where you work (lucky you, back in the day it used to be 8 bucks an hour for awhile, and a lot less before then). Even with that money, it’s not really enough to explore hobbies that you’d want and be “comfortable”.
At a middle class level, you essentially make enough to make ends meet, save for a house, retirement, eat out at nice restaurants from time to time, and even chase a few hobbies you’d want.
For example, I’ve been fortunate to have what I make from work fund my hobbies that I’m passionate about – which are Jiu Jitsu and surfing. Both aren’t cheap hobbies. I pay around 200 bucks a month for Jiu Jitsu along with a gym membership. Surfing doesn’t come cheap either. Starting off with a wetsuit and a board can easily offset you a couple hundred bucks.
Life isn’t essentially over when you start working, in fact, it gets exciting. You get control. You get to do what you want if you break free of your routine. Sure, a middle class job can be soul sucking at times, but if you figure out how to break free and figure out something for yourself, you’ll be able to get the days to fly by and you’ll be happy enjoying all the hobbies you do.