"Never blend with 'uneducated' people." I've heard that a lot while I was growing up. I used to take great pride in being schooled at a private school for girls, raised in a conservative family and had almost everything at my fingertips. To most, it would appear I had the entire world. I walked with my head held high and my shoulders even higher.
At 21, I thought to myself I could make it on my own and left home. It's not something I regret. Leaving home was the best thing that could have happened. I learned so many things - most of all, I learned to care. I learned who really was 'educated'. In my 'rich' world, being educated meant staying in school until one got a degree. I left home without earning that degree. I couldn't wait to get out and explore on my own. But I'm proud to say, I'm living in the real rich world of experience. I learned how to depend on others, to appreciate what I have, to appreciate everyone. Status in life, wealth in life is of no importance.
I know people who look down on the street cleaners, on the carpenters, on the people who help us at home. Where would we be if we didn't have them. Would we clean and build our own houses. It's ridiculous how I used to look at them with shame. I now look at people who look down on them with shame.
Mom said I would never have someone as good as she is if I left home. She said that life would be very difficult. Yes, the latter was true. But I didn't just get someone good. I met and lived with a lot of good people. When I was too proud to go back home, I had a struggling mom with 5 children open her arms wide and welcome me, I had another mom with 5 beautiful kids too who made me feel part of their family. I had so many people welcoming me with open arms, and open hearts. Some didn't have enough to feed their own family but they welcomed me all the same. They didn't care where I came from. They didn't ask where I studied or didn't tell me who I should mingle with. They advised, they cherished, they prodded me on to my dreams. They weren't family because they were more than that to me.
When I came home a few times after that, I always felt a desperate need for mom and my sister to understand that I was happy. I thought I'd prove myself. But guess what? I gave up. The size of my wallet will never measure up to theirs because it's just what it is. I can't have a wallet full of wads of money but at the same time, could I live with an empty heart? I've struggled to make them understand and see the beauty I've seen. I'm not just a name that my children will see on a corporate desk or a picture that may hang in the hallway of some corporate building. My world is truly a world away from theirs. I don't mind because I truly am happy where I am. I've learned that having less is truly having something even more. I'll never be rich. I realized that a long time ago. I never want to be rich if it means having to hold my head high and look down on other people. I want to have nothing to do with that. Education doesn't stop after one graduates. I find myself learning a lot of new things even at 36. I'm learning the more important things in life.
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