[khaiai]

I grew up poor and for the longest time, I hated rich people and even hated well-off people. I was jealous that they were able to afford things like going out to a eat, laptops, a safe environment to live in, etc. I especially hated kids who had rich or well-off parents because those kids had it so easy and had more opportunities. They were able to focus on school, and got everything they needed for school. While I struggled so much more. I hated that they had less to overcome. They didn’t need to spend their energy getting caught up. What helped me were a few things:

(1) Getting a job that paid ~45K a year and paying off my debt

(2) Changing my mindset from hating rich people to wanting to have success like them. I still have bitterness, but now I try to think how did they became successful, and how can I become wealthy?

(3) Realizing that even though I grew up poor, there are people who grew up even poorer. It’s no use feeling constantly sorry for yourself. It only holds you back. You will always be more well-off then a lot of other people. And there will always be a lot of people who has it worse than you. I became grateful for what growing up poor taught me. A shit ton more resilience, empathy, and adaptability then someone who had it easy.

(4) I stopped comparing and designed my life how I want it within my financial limits. It also helps that I never wanted to keep up with the Joneses.