quoting another's two cents worth

i truly believe that i have been merely coasting in life for the past few years. i'm in a stable position right now, but i don't think i have achieved anything brilliant or life-changing.

but then, a friend pointed out that going to the u.s. alone, at  my own expense, is technically an achievement. add that to the fact that i had also traveled to thailand and china in a span of a few months, without asking a single cent from my parents -- to her, what i have done is literally an amazing feat. a lot of my friends (including myself) have been brought up in an environment where although self-sufficiency is encouraged and praised,  it is still not unusual for children (even if they are already adults) to ask help (money, that is) from their parents, or for the parents to voluntarily give aid to their adult children.  i know a few people who have gone on shopping splurges by swiping their extension credit cards -- bills to be paid by the parents, of course -- or who travel in style by using their parents' connections and timeshares in hotels abroad. according to my friend, she wouldn't know the first thing about financing her trips abroad without her husband's credit card, or her mom's monthly "allowance" to her.

so yeah, maybe i'm doing something right all along. i get so focused sometimes on what i must succeed in doing that i fail to see the little milestones i have surpassed. i guess now would be a good time to give myself a pat on the back.

i won't kid myself or anyone by saying that i don't miss the good life. i miss not having any financial worry, where everything is paid by someone else, and where an increase in income simply entails asking an increase in allowance from my parents. i may be a few thousands poorer for indulging my wanderlust, but nothing beats the sense of independence i have acquired in knowing i paid my way to travel the globe. if i can do this right now, then maybe, i just might survive anything life throws at me.