They Sold You The Dream, But This Is What They Didn’t Tell You

Work hard. Graduate from a top school, get the corner office, buy the luxury car and big house. Fill it with gadgets and stuff.

Still unhappy?

Earn more. Spend more.

Keep up with the Joneses.

Sure, you’re exhausted, burnt out and feeling empty, but maybe the next promotion will give you what you need.

So you work the 12 hour days sacrificing time with your family. You grind it out through lunch, rarely take vacation days and end up packing on the pounds from sitting at your desk all day.

Then, the day comes.

They hand you a big promotion and along with it an even bigger workload and a little bit more money.

Yet, you look around your now cushy office, expecting to feel completely elated.

You think of the missed holidays, birthdays, the late nights and early mornings.

You should be happy. You should be thrilled.

You get the curt smiles and envious glares from your colleagues. You act like this is everything you wanted and more but something is different this time. Something has changed.

You call your wife and tell her you’ll be late again today and to give the kids a kiss goodnight. It’s the third night in a row you missed dinner.

You hear the exasperation in your wife’s voice. She was up at night with your youngest and at the office all day too. The kids are crying in the background, and you wish you were there to comfort them.

This isn’t the dream you wanted to buy.

You hang up and stare at your phone. Your photo drive pops up with a picture that says seven years ago today.

You see you and your smiling wife on that magical trip to Italy. The sunkissed hair, the bright smiles, laughter playing on your lips. You think about the carefree person you used to be. A person who used to take chances, be spontaneous and live in the moment. A person long gone and forgotten.

This life is not what you imagined.

You dreamed of selling it all and living in Costa Rica. Travelling the world, learning a new language, living in a villa by the beach and maybe opening up a little cafe.

You let out a weary sigh as the heaviness, the struggle, the hardship of the past few years finally settles on your shoulders, like a deadweight.

You bought the dream and thought it would make you happy, but this is what they didn’t tell you.