Learning what is most essential

A cordial greeting to all, I hope with all my heart that you are safe and keeping a very positive attitude. Today I want to share my personal experience about how important it is for me to lead a simple life, focused on things that I consider much more important than money and having many expensive things.

I grew up in a family that went through hard times, there were many of us in the house, and it is not always easy for a parent in a big family to have a lot of things. So as kids, our siblings and I played with what we could, we scraped together what food we could to make ends meet, and most of the clothes we wore were hand-me-downs. For a child these things might not be so important, especially if you are in a family where there is a lot of love and protection.

But I do remember that we lived in a place where we were discriminated against a lot because of the clothes we wore, and also because of the little education that due to lack of money we had. You may not think so but the teasing little by little influences the way you think, and I felt so bad when I grew up and had my own children, I really didn't want them to go through something like what I went through.

And motivated by a sincere desire for my boys to have what I didn't have, I worked very hard day and night, which made me not to be at home many times and miss important events, and after some time I realized something that changed my life. Being with my children was always very important to me and sometimes I felt sad for not being able to be there, however I tried very hard but I realized that, it was not the money or all those things that my children needed, it was me.

I also worked because it is the duty of a parent to care and provide for their children, but instead of spending all my life and all my hours working to give my children an outstanding economic stability, I made an effort to give them what they needed, and I looked for a way to enjoy with them the beautiful things that life gives us.

Since childhood both them and I learned (because even with my age I am still learning) that there are things in life that not only can be enjoyed very much, but that cause us a lot of emotional well-being and most of those things, if not all, are free. So at home instead of spending a lot of money on activities outside the house, in nature and in the simple things in life.

Before, I used to think that getting out of the house and spending money on entertainment was the only way to have fun and relax. So I thought that taking them to malls, movie theaters and restaurants would feel good, but the truth is that doing things that are more nature related are much healthier for them and helps them to have a mindset that will do them a lot of good in the long run.

I remember that every once in a while we would make arrangements to go to a park that was about 30 minutes away from where we lived, we would go there with a sheet and food in a bag, and we would spend the whole day there, they would play around the park. Sometimes we would play volleyball with them, and when it was time to eat we would sit on the sheet that was on the grass.

They always remember that park with great affection, it was full of too many trees of all kinds and the green grass always made you feel like you were in a place apart, a place surrounded by nature. We didn't do this every day but we did make time and plans to spend time together in places like this. As well as sometimes we decided to go to the beach for a day.

I don't think I would have been able to do any of these things if I had had a much more demanding job, and even though I spent a lot of time away from home working, I made an effort to compensate for that time. I got my vacations in February, which was a complicated time because they got their vacations in August. But they always had some days off in February and we took them to travel to rural places.

I think this influenced them a lot because one of my oldest sons, when he got married, moved to a place where there was a lot of nature, part of what is known as the Venezuelan plains, there were many animals and a very calm lifestyle, so when he moved every so often we made arrangements to travel to visit him and take advantage of enjoying with him that unique place.

Sometimes because of things we lived in the past, lack of money and so on, we feel that we have to spend our lives having a lot of money so that our children do not go through the same, but over the years I learned that it is not about that, but to teach them what is really important, to teach them to enjoy nature and what our creator with so much love gave us. Because these teachings will last them a lifetime and will allow them to have a happier life.

Children will grow up fast, before we know it, and the best thing we can do is to take advantage of those moments to teach them what is essential, and what will give them peace of mind in the future. Thank you very much because you always read us and leave us your valuable comments, your friends, @liliayjuvenal, bid you a fond farewell.

Photographs by me, text written in Spanish and translated into English with DeepL.