arlopop
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
Pearljammer,
I know you didn't mean to offend anyone when you posted, but understand that when you ask others to "justify" their plans you tend to put people on the defensive.
Others here have pointed out that personal choices and responsibility for those choices are up to everyone individually. Others have pointed out that some people just have more resources. Both arguments are utterly valid.
In my case it is simply a well-deserved vacation away from it all and, to be honest, I could have justified our 2br suite at twice its price.
We were shocked 8 months ago when my 3 children (DS - 6, DD1 - 5, DD2 - 3) and I were diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. Although unlikely to cut our lives short (not impossible, however,) the disorder will certainly make our lives more restricted, miserable, and considerably more painful than any of us would ever wish. The litany of doctor's appointments, tests, needles, therapies and depressing probable outcomes (there is no cure or treatment) we have experienced since our diagnosis last August has left us all dizzy, tired, and worn out. My wife, though physically unaffected herself, has seen her healthy family move from normal to threatened and has had to provide support for all of us. She has suffered as only a devoted, loving wife and mother can in circumstances such as ours.
One result of all this was that our long held dream of sailing our own boat around the world for two years as a family has been utterly dashed because my children's safety comes first and the risks to their well-being on that adventure have simply become too great.
So when the opportunity to "get away from it all" - to escape a bit of our disappointment for a while - presented itself, we jumped. You see, we deserved it.
Many others deserve it. Life is short. People bang away day in and day out and too often deny themselves a little respite from it all for fear of having to justify it to themselves or someone else.
I haven't shared our circumstance to elicit sympathy - we are a strong family and honestly one of the things we are trying to escape is all the well-intentioned concern we have engendered in family and friends. I only bring it up as a very real example of the different factors other than mere price that go into the decision-making process. The reasons people make the choices they make are as varied as the people who make them. Please don't assume that the financial cost is the only thing to consider... or that it is the only thing that amounts to justification.
We get but one ride through this life, so allow me to suggest that you grab all the pixie dust you can when it blows by. It's real value is not quite so easily measured (or justified) in dollars and cents.
I know you didn't mean to offend anyone when you posted, but understand that when you ask others to "justify" their plans you tend to put people on the defensive.
Others here have pointed out that personal choices and responsibility for those choices are up to everyone individually. Others have pointed out that some people just have more resources. Both arguments are utterly valid.
In my case it is simply a well-deserved vacation away from it all and, to be honest, I could have justified our 2br suite at twice its price.
We were shocked 8 months ago when my 3 children (DS - 6, DD1 - 5, DD2 - 3) and I were diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder. Although unlikely to cut our lives short (not impossible, however,) the disorder will certainly make our lives more restricted, miserable, and considerably more painful than any of us would ever wish. The litany of doctor's appointments, tests, needles, therapies and depressing probable outcomes (there is no cure or treatment) we have experienced since our diagnosis last August has left us all dizzy, tired, and worn out. My wife, though physically unaffected herself, has seen her healthy family move from normal to threatened and has had to provide support for all of us. She has suffered as only a devoted, loving wife and mother can in circumstances such as ours.
One result of all this was that our long held dream of sailing our own boat around the world for two years as a family has been utterly dashed because my children's safety comes first and the risks to their well-being on that adventure have simply become too great.
So when the opportunity to "get away from it all" - to escape a bit of our disappointment for a while - presented itself, we jumped. You see, we deserved it.
Many others deserve it. Life is short. People bang away day in and day out and too often deny themselves a little respite from it all for fear of having to justify it to themselves or someone else.
I haven't shared our circumstance to elicit sympathy - we are a strong family and honestly one of the things we are trying to escape is all the well-intentioned concern we have engendered in family and friends. I only bring it up as a very real example of the different factors other than mere price that go into the decision-making process. The reasons people make the choices they make are as varied as the people who make them. Please don't assume that the financial cost is the only thing to consider... or that it is the only thing that amounts to justification.
We get but one ride through this life, so allow me to suggest that you grab all the pixie dust you can when it blows by. It's real value is not quite so easily measured (or justified) in dollars and cents.
Excellent post!!
