How much does a high-quality life cost?
It’s our 6th day after moving to St. Petersburg... At dinner time it comes to my mind that I don’t regret the money spent on food. In Smolensk we practiced and further acquired a useful habit not to restrict yourself when it comes to quality (not only in terms of food). Healthy tasty food, the best places to go out, expensive items, safety, expensive trips – it all sounds great! But somewhere very deep inside I had a slight feeling of being too cheap. Quality is a serious burden on the family budget. But it’s come that it isn’t about the money...
Imagine, you are driving an import car... but at the same time you are driving across the mess of dirt and rubbish, you are even parking there as well. You set off to bright adventures, but when they finish you return to dullness and this dump, where you want to howl because of boredom and I don’t even mention absence of any inspiration there. You have a spacious comfortable apartment with a twist and everything you need, but then you open the door and go out... In general, you don’t feel the aftertaste of positive outbreaks for long.
You may say that one can struggle and even manage to solve something. One can for sure! I’ve written about it myself. But I don’t want to struggle again - it’s time for us to LIVE and to CREATE, not to “run still”! The dissonance between the level you are trying to fit yourself in and the level that surrounds you has a negative impact on your internal state and ability to create. It has become obvious to me now.
For the moment I’m driving across the CLEAN city in a CLEAN car, which remains clean. I’m parking it in a clean well-groomed yard. I don’t bring pieces of mud on my boots into a comfortable apartment in the English style. At the weekend I grab some coffee and a bite to go, paying by phone. Then I get into a taxi that I called 40 seconds ago using the same phone and head to another business-related event (I don’t even remember the topic, as I came across it only the previous day and wrote down the address and start time). Taxi is also paid automatically, I used to be skeptical and afraid of such functions but now it doesn’t even bother me. At the same time, Anna (Анюта Чехленкова) is at another interesting meeting useful for the development of her personally composed tours. And the daughter is in the weekend kindergarten for God’s Sake! I won’t even tease you with stories about game classes in English or Spanish for kids or the opportunity to leave the baby for the whole night. In the evening I already feel the ability to conquer the whole world. I return to the beautiful historical center and don’t cease to enjoy what is happening around me.
The quality of life has become a very specific and tangible thing. As for me and my wife, we are thrilled to bits because of what is going on around! A cozy apartment we rent in the center, a private garden, trainings with a business guru -- all this costs an arm and a leg. But the question “how much is it?” doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m concerned about the other question: what should I take to make this continue and increase pace. Because for the first time it’s clear for me: what for.
Translated by Irina Zaitseva