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You know how kids just can’t do anything wrong in their parents’ eyes?

While my dad was never very successful, he grew up as a typical Aussie male.. He bought a few Holdens, got a trade, bought a boat, got married then divorced, then met my mother and sold the boat and had a family. He’d always told me how the choices that he made in life were never good enough for his dad and how he never had any support from him. On mum’s side, her mum was sick and her dad was pretty much a no show after her early teens, so she had to fend for herself from a young age with little support once again. Her dad has always given her a hard time about the choices that she has made in life too.

This seems quite common talking to a lot of  mates’ parents. Their parents would always be disappointed by them – things like what career they chose, that they didn’t buy a house early enough, got married too late and so on.

Turn it around though, and things appear to be completely different now. A considerable portion of my friends since leaving school have either travelled, and blown their cash in sacrifice of life experience, or bummed around at uni and not really achieved much, and with the full support of their parents! It’s like the Baby Boomers have learned that the way that they did it was wrong. They are almost giving us approval, or consent to go out there and just live – not necessarily find a safe job or start a family – just enjoy life.

Maybe it’s the way that we portray our lives to our parents – I know that my parents are very proud of the way that my fiancee and I are living our lives. Working now – going overseas next year. My dad is extremely proud of the way that I can go out drinking with the boys without my fiancee, and she trusts me, and vice-versa.

All things considered, the Baby Boomers seem to have faith in their kids – the Gen Y’s, despite some pretty poor decisions on our behalf from time to time.

Maybe they are just learning that there is in fact more than one way to live your life? Or have they just had such a safe life by taking their parents’ advice and getting a safe job, buying a house early and starting a family young, that they are happy to see their kids out there experiencing new things and taking some risks? Risks that they never took and now regret it?

Last night one of my close friends came around and I fixed his laptop for him. It took a good 5 hours and was a great catch up in the mean time.

He’s recently had a son, and while absolutely stoked on being a father, money is now a major concern.

You know those people that always need more? He’s one of those people, and he admits it openly. “I need to write a book”, he said, “I’ll call it Getting the f*ck over it“. It’s good that he can see where his hangups lie!

Here is a healthy mid 20′s male, engaged to an attractive woman who has just given birth to a healthy baby boy. They live in a nice house, and are financially safe from what I can tell. Aside from money, he is the sort of person who can see the bright side of everything.

My only words of wisdom to him were “you can never win when comparing yourself to others by income, but you can with happiness”. Don’t get me wrong, money is nice, but in the end it doesn’t make you truely happy. If you were just happy, all day every day – you can’t tell me you wouldn’t be a happier person than the remaining 90% of the world.

Choice is such a nice thing to have, but it can also be a curse. Many people choose to want more than they can realistically achieve, and their entire life just becomes one big frustration.

Choosing to enjoy your life and not comparing yourself too much with others is a step in the right direction. Live life how you want to, and not how everyone else is. Follow your dreams, and don’t listen to others’ negative opinions.

I’m planning on living the dream next year. Only 8 more months of saving and preparation!