Comparable

I had a great birthday! In my mind, a great birthday is when I get to do whatever I want all day. I don't need exotic trips (Ok I'd like them...), fancy presents or lots of attention. I just want 1 day when I get to go where I want when I want. And eat what I want when I want. I decided on my birthday I was not going to look at the nutrition facts on anything. It was so liberating!

The day after my birthday was my ward's women's conference. For those reading who are not Mormon I'll try to explain that...Ladies who live in my area get together and are offered classes and workshops we can go to. We get to pick which classes we want and they feed us. Being that I'm in a new area, I have to attend these things alone. Which can be scary sometimes, but I did it anyways. I signed up to bring a Bundt cake to the festivities ( which turned out really good, yay!) and away I went. To take some classes by myself.

I decided to go to a marriage class (because honestly, who doesn't need one of those?) and a finance class. They were both really good. Here are some key points I took from each:

Marriage class-
* Getting married is not when courtship ends, it's where it changes and begins over again. How true is that?
* To have a successful marriage, each couple can't put in 50% effort. They each need to put in 100% effort.
* The breakdown of most marriages can be traced back to when each person starting putting their own needs before spouses

Finance class-
* When we get to those pearly gates so to speak it doesn't matter how much money you had, it matters what you did with it
* Budgeting needs to be a family affair, and needs to include everyone
* Teaching your children the value of money and how to handle it is super important and creates responsible adults.

I really enjoyed my classes. I started to think about how easy it is to see what other people have and compare it to what you have. How easy it is to let someone else's good fortune lessen yours. I'm not sure why I feel the need to gauge how successful I am by comparing myself to someone else. Where did that come from? I know I'm not alone in this. These classes reminded me that it doesn't matter if your neighbor has a nicer car than you do. Or if you friend's marriage seems blissful while yours seems rocky at best ( not that mine is, just an ie here). To become a better person we need to stop looking at other people and focus ourselves. Our budget, our marriage.

These aren't really new things. But just refreshed ideas. I'm glad I went to the workshop. Even though I had a pregnant lady sit on either side of me, both due in June. Seriously? Is there anyone not due in June out there? Just kidding. I can't avoid pregnant ladies with June due dates forever. Just because I'm not one of them doesn't mean I can't enjoy them.