Make A Living or A Life?

It's often hard to decide what the right thing to do is, when you have so many pressures and obstacles flying at you from every direction. In today's society of 'Generation Rent' I find it difficult to find a balance with wanting to live the life I would like, whilst still thinking about the future, savings, wedding, a house, babies, pension etc.... Where is the line? 

I had an amazing childhood, my sisters and I never wanted for anything. We went on amazing holidays, had all kinds of hobbies incl horse riding, golf, scuba diving, skiing, dance (the list goes on, but I'll stop there) and we have the best family relationship I know of, and I can't thank my parents enough for all of those things. 

However, the constant and internal battle with myself on a daily basis - 

'How can I live and give my kids (still a few years away yet) the same lifestyle I've always had?'

It's a pressure I have put on myself for years and everything to do with the success of my career revolves around the above.

I'm 26 years old and getting married next year. My fiance and I don't live near any family and everything we have we've worked for ourselves. We also live in one of the most expensive parts of the country and the thought of owning our own home is not on the cards for a quite some time. 

We Rent! 

Now tradition says, you should get married before you live together and you should own a home before you start a family, but I don't see how this is possible for most of us. Only a handful of people I know under 35 have bought their own home, and how did they do it? Lived with their parents for 3-5 years, which is amazing but not always an option.

Maybe the pressure comes from older generations whose first house could have cost £19,000 (can you imagine buying a whole house for £19k??! Where we live you couldn't by a garage for that much), or maybe the pressure comes from ourselves.

I am a hard worker, but I'm never satisfied and I'm always looking for the next challenge to improve my career or financial situation. But, is all the work in the world worth all of this if you are never home and spending time with your family, you can't work out and look your best and your exhausted and moody? I don't really think it is!

Life is hard and stressful but we should never loose out on today or look back on yesterday and regret, enjoy every moment. Be smart, be cautious, ask a 100 questions, work hard, have fun and be happy!