Merry Christmas! is anyone else tired of hearing the same "when I was a kid" bullshit stories from older relatives every year? here's how to remind them how thankful they should be...

"When I was a kid, I worked for $X.00 a day... you kids have it easy nowadays..." - relative, referring to wages in the late 40's and early 50's in America

X usually = a small fraction, sometimes 10%, maybe 15%, of what kids earn in the same time nowadays

Every year, I hear these same sob stories about how "tough" life was for our relatives "back in the day". I usually experience a bit of guilt and shame, as these stories are framed to trigger the mathematical equation in our heads that usually outputs something like "wow, I made that in an hour when I was as old as my relative was then", and I feel bad for them. Once they realize they have an audience, the diatribes continue.

Not this year.

I asked my relative what they valued more, their wages or their marriage. They answered "my marriage, obviously... I wouldn't trade my spouse for anything in the world". I then asked if they would rather live happily married in fiscal poverty or unhappily divorced and fiscally wealthy. "Happily married in fiscal poverty". I said "well, then you had it pretty good compared to me because I am twice as likely to lose what you value more than money, nowadays".

There were an average of 10 divorces per 1,000 married women in 1950, over 21 per 1,000 married women in 2010.

$6.00 a day had never felt so good to them, after they adjusted their perspective.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Remember it's not what you're looking at, but how you're looking at it!