conditions

I was thinking about how I used to be when it came to work. I would get so stressed out over minor mistakes and issues and was generally very subservient. It just felt normal. Now that I've been "self-employed" for a while, it's hard to imagine going back to that. Having to be accountable to so many people, constantly navigating power structures and abrasive personalities.

On the other hand, I was gaining skills through the jobs and enjoying much more reliable incomes. These days I'm free from all the nonsense but I'm also losing more money than I'm making, and I don't live a decadent lifestyle in the least. My social life and "skills" have also tanked but that might be for the best since I'm working through some ancient high-grade people pleasing programming. I don't want to be good at socializing the way I was.

Overall, once you've reached a certain level of stability there doesn't seem to be objectively better or worse conditions in which to live. It mostly seems to be a matter of how well your circumstances mesh with your temperament along with your attitude towards them. I know people who are in way more financially secure and lavish conditions than myself but who constantly complain about aches and pains and other issues supposedly caused by the demands of their jobs. So would I be better off in their shoes?

It's possible, since it seems attitude is the overall deciding factor. Whether or not we can accept and appreciate where we are even if it's not perfect. Because the truth is, it won't ever be perfect. There will always be those little problems that continue to crop up, it just seems to be how this universe is designed. Humans are the only species that seem to have trouble accepting this. Another strange design feature in a strange world.