2020 was going pretty well for me. I’ve worked hard through the end of my busy season, traveled on 3 vacation-like trips, and committed to marry the one I love the most! I bet 2020 was going well for a lot of us, but (seemingly) suddenly, our world became a place widely suffering from sickness, economic struggle, and mandatory government lock downs, depriving its humans of physical social interaction. Jobs, lives, and hopeful intentions are being lost across the globe.
I am a 27 year old woman in great health, who prides herself in handling obstacles, with a rewarding job that helps young athletes around the country. I have dreams of my upcoming wedding, succeeding in my career, and making a positive worldly impact.
This week, my fiancé and I received news that all employees in our company will take a pay cut by a fixed percentage. Unfortunately, we are in a scary time when all businesses have to make difficult decisions like this. I am focusing on still being thankful for the adjustment, because a pay cut means my friends, fiancé, and I remain employed.
I live paycheck to paycheck already–constantly owing my friends & family money just to keep up. With all of the unknown for the immediate future, I am quickly losing hope that I’ll ever be able to catch back up, let alone afford a wedding.
So, I have nothing left to do at this point, but to make positive changes to the parts of my life that don’t require money.
I will continue to work out and stretch every day to become a more healthy, fit version of myself. I will be one of the people who improved during this time.
I will work constantly to seek out temporary solutions for my high-interest bills. In most cases, I have found that debt companies are allowing a forbearance for the upcoming months due to high volume of newly unemployed customers. My (super expensive) Sallie Mae personal student loans were my highest concern, and they have a program at the moment allowing loan holders to put loans off until at least July!
I will always keep in mind that upon a crisis like this, I’ve still had so many friends reach out to me personally to lend me a helping hand if needed. I feel so lucky for these people who genuinely care about my well-being.
I will eat more vegetables (they’re cheaper anyways and I kinda like them now) and reduce sweets that are harmful to my body.
I will still dream about my wedding with my fiancé, even though we haven’t yet set a date and we now have an indefinite amount of time to create an epic party on our own terms. I will start creating our wedding website!
I will stay true to myself and be thankful for the things I do have– like a beautiful (rented) home, (halfway paid off) car, and ever-growing WFH wardrobe.
I will continue to thank healthcare professionals and authorities for their diligence in this hard time. Currently, my dad is serving both of those roles in New York and helping so many people!
I will handle this situation with a long-term mentality, just like I normally do for stressful situations. Paying student loans of $24,000 each year for the past 5 years has given me enough experience to fight any battle and come out alive. I couldn’t imagine being in a place where I couldn’t handle my obstacles on my own and I am thankful for where I am today.
Stay healthy, stay safe, stay positive, and stay inside!
-ksex
KSL 