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details about what type of Volvo it is but it is one of those swanky ones.
To put it in straight and simple to understand English, it is one of those cars that one cannot help but notice.
You know the type where the moment someone parks, everyone looks up.
I am sure you all have those friends and relatives who when they arrive at a party or funeral, everyone wants to know who they are the minute they park their car.
You start hearing whispers of “Who is that?” from every corner.
That is the type of car my friend is driving.
However, because the swanky looking car is expensive to maintain, she has been failing to take it for a complete and thorough service.
As a result it now makes some funny sounds that you can actually catch if you happen to be near enough to the road when she passes by.
That is how bad it is.
I asked her the other day why she cannot sell the car to someone who can afford to maintain it and buy something cheaper
If she does that, she will actually be able to save some money I am certain because the difference between what that huge machine costs and a simpler car is definitely huge. When I raised the issue she came up with some lame excuse. After a while I understood what her issue was, she could not consider downgrading.
I am sure she was thinking: “You jealous friend, you want people to stop looking up each time I arrive somewhere.”
That got me thinking. There are many of us trapped in this life today.
We are trapped into living a certain way so that people can look at us in a more pleasing way.
I am going to be honest and tell you that I do enjoy it when people say to me “Oh you look expensive, ah you smell exotic, oh your home looks lovely.”
Don’t you also feel pleased when this happens?
If everyone never says anything good about you and how you look and your achievements, I am sure you would be worried.
But to what lengths shall we go to please others and look a certain way to someone else?
I know of another colleague who struggles from rent to rent monthly. She lives in a house where the rental is US$1 100. Every month her husband and her get tummies ache when they think of rent.
But the funny thing is they keep getting it at the last minute and coughing it up.
They cannot imagine moving out of the swanky house they live in.
Everyone has wonderful comments about the house, by the way, including me.
I suggested that they move out the other time when I saw my friend looking like an old woman. I asked her what was wrong and she said she was worried about rent and where they would get it because their deals were not firing that month.
In two days I saw her and the rent had been paid.
I suggested to her that it may be wise to get something for US$500 and below, as I would.
She looked at me as if I was crazy.
I am sure she was thinking: “You crazy friend, you want me to be like you who stays in an ordinary place that no one will scream over. I like my huge yard, my extras such as bars and studies. Leave me in peace.”
But are such people living in peace?
Can you be in peace when you have to fork out US$1 100 every month to give someone. That is a salary many in the country only dream of.
By end of year just think how much the landlord would have made and how much you would have lost.
Would you ever be able to save up enough to buy your own house at this rate?
But for the glory of living in a posh area, even in a place that is not yours, many of us will struggle from month to month.
My friend pointed out that the areas which would cost US$500 and below are the Msasa Parks, Tynwalds, Waterfalls, Mabelreign, Marimba Park, etc which were too far and not secure.
Too far?
I am sure we all know the reason why she was not keen to consider this. It was a downgrade to move from Mt Pleasant to these areas.
There are other friends I have. They struggle with keeping children in certain schools and universities. They are a problem when it comes to paying in the nursery schools they send their children to. But suggest that they move the children and see how unwilling they are.
It is a No-No.
They wear expensive clothes they cannot afford. They end up compromising themselves to afford swanky lifestyles.
While I have nothing against all of us living the best life possible, I am just wondering today whether all our actions are driven by the best motives.
If you strongly believe and can afford the best schools for your children, I am all for it.
But if you are going to give headaches to school administrators every term, is that the way to go?
If you can afford expensive vehicles, surely you should drive them?
But if you cannot even take the vehicle you own for service because the very oil it needs you cannot afford, should you not think of something cheaper?
Just look at the tyres on some of these cars and you will see that the owners got the wrong cars for their cars.
Who are we pleasing by living in a place which takes all our money from is, which we are obviously are struggling to continue staying in?
I wish I had all the money in the world, to build a home in my dream area, to drive the car I dream about, to go on holidays where I want to go, to furnish my home in a way that all my friends would gush about.
I do not have it.
As such I make do with what I can afford.
The glory is in enjoying my life as it is and seeing all the many blessings that are in it.
There will always be someone with a better car, better job, better house, better furniture and everything else.
But my life is mine and I should love it.
I should live it for me and nobody else.
Who are you living yours for?
Let us take a lighter look at it and discuss.
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