16.3 Coping with Economic Stress

16.3 Coping with Economic Stress

Though I am still living with my parents because I am trying to get through school with as little financial stress as possible, I still have an economic stress that I may have for the rest of my life. I am a preschool teacher and I absolutely LOVE my job. This is what I want to do for as long as I can. Going to work is the time of the week I enjoy in between school and personal responsibilities. Although I love what I do, the pay does not make it easy to choose this profession as a career. Teachers in general do not make enough money for what they do, preschool teachers are no different as they work on an hourly basis. The economic stress that I have because of my choice to be happy in my career rather then make money is that I will never be able to support myself entirely on my own with my dream job. With how our society is today with a 50% divorce rate and the cost of living increasing it is scary to think that I may have to give up what I love to do for money to support myself and my family one day. Even if my partner makes enough money to support our family we will be limited by my small income. I have already accepted that I will most likely only be able to have one child so that I can give my all to the child instead of giving only a little to multiple children. I am 100% fine with this but it is stressful to know that if I keep doing what I love, then I will never be able to support a family or live on my own by myself securely. Having to rely on others for so much can be difficult to wrap my head around but I believe that if I am happy in my career, which people spend a lot of their time at work, then it is all worth it and will work out. My father has taught me the life lesson of always do what makes you happy instead of what makes the most money.