We Don’t Have to Go Back to the Way Things Used to Be

Would I lie to you honey?

Now would I say something that wasn’t true?

I’m asking you sugar

Would I lie to you?

— Would I Lie to You, Eurythmics

 

The world lies to us. 

 

We accept these lies as truth, even when evidence points to the contrary.

 

This point was driven home over and over when our family moved into our little house.

 

-You don’t need “as large of a house as you can afford.” 

-You don’t always have to have a car payment.

-Family members don’t all need their own rooms and their own bathrooms.

-Master suites, family rooms, and spare bedrooms are nice, but they are not essential trappings of a happy life.

-The things your neighbors and friends have aren’t necessarily things you need to have, too.

 

During the pandemic, more lies were exposed:

 

-You don’t have to put in long hours at the office to be productive at your job.

-Being busy isn’t the same as being productive.

-Being productive isn’t the same as being happy.

-Your job doesn’t define you.

 

Slate’s podcast, What Next, explored the changing landscape of workplaces in a post-COVID world. In the episode, So, what happens to WFH now? workers and employees are rethinking what the work week should look like after being disrupted by the pandemic. Should we all go back to the way it was? Or is it maybe time to try something different?

 

The financial strain my husband and I felt when we were paying for a house we could barely afford, exacerbated by a 4 year salary freeze at his job that seemed to keep us even further away from ever getting our feet planted firmly on the ground forced us to take a step back: Is this right? Does it really have to be this way? Does this make sense?

 

Ask yourself those questions every day. Don’t take someone else’s word for how you should be doing things. It’s okay to stop, let your brain settle, and reassess. We don’t have to go back to the way things used to be.