We live in Johnson County.
Because we live in such a nice area, everything’s perfect. None of us have any problems. We’re middle to upper-middle class, and only lower classes suffer. Right?
Wrong.
There’s a common misconception that if you’re not a starving child in Africa, then you have nothing to complain about.
As we are all aware, “Things could be worse.”
I suppose that’s true. Things could be much worse.
However, food, shelter, expensive technology and the newest styles are not the only things that determine whether you live a perfect life.
As we’ve all been told many times, “Money doesn’t buy happiness,” but for some reason, people still seem to believe that it does.
Money does not solve your problems.
Plain and simple.
If money solved your problems, buying a $400 phone would give you 50 friends to text.
If money solved your problems, paying for 10 months of chemotherapy would ensure there was a 100-percent guarantee your loved one would survive cancer.
If money solved your problems, retail therapy would heal your broken heart.
But it doesn’t work that way.
After spending all that money, you still can be left with no friends. Your loved one can still die. You can still be broken-hearted.
Living in Johnson County — even with our plentiful amount of money — doesn’t mean life is perfect.
Does having the typical JoCo opulence mean you don’t live in an abusive household?
Does drinking clean water mean you’ve never lost a loved one?
Does eating three meals a day mean you don’t suffer from depression?
Just because someone is spoiled by their parents doesn’t mean their home life is exactly ideal.
Two of my best friends are abused.
One makes amazing grades, and the other is an incredible athlete.
They both have the luxuries that would imply their lives are otherwise perfect. Looking at them, you would never know the struggles they face at home. Sometimes they do complain about senseless things that would suggest they are just your ordinary, spoiled teenagers. But consider maybe they’re just trying to cover up what’s actually going on.
Don’t be so naïve to think because someone has money, they don’t have problems.
Living in a better-off county doesn’t mean you’re necessarily happy.
Having equal opportunities doesn’t mean you haven’t lost someone close to you.
Personally, I’m incredibly thankful to live the way I do.
I have clothes on my back, plenty of food and water, a heated house to sleep in and a family that loves me.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know what pain is.
When it comes down to it, what does it really mean to live in the wealthy Johnson County? Nothing.
Most of us in Johnson County have our monetary needs taken care of, but we still have the same emotional struggles as anyone else would.
The point of this is not to create a bunch of senseless complaining.
But don’t jump to call someone an “ignorant Johnson County kid” because it’s possible they can have something serious going on that you don’t know about.