Real Talk: don't compare your happiness

Being the one behind the scenes of a musician's life as a significant other is one of the most weird, confusing and tough situations to be in. Living paycheck to paycheck while also trying to jump start a music career is hard. And watching all of our friends get married, buying houses, and having babies doesn't quite help either. We are doing everything different than everyone else it seems. It can be discouraging, working so hard trying to climb the ladder and only getting so far. Truth is musicians have to pay their dues for a long time before you hear them on the radio top 40 countdown.

Having a relationship with a musician is different, even on a small scale. You have to be so hopeful for the future, but also be constantly living in the moment. You have to be supportive, but not pushy. Show them you care while also giving them space. The biggest thing is to simply be understanding and supportive. Money is always tight, stress is usually always on full blast but being open and communicative will help you and your person stay grounded. The one most important thing though, in this situation AND in any other situation is not to compare anything you are doing to something another couple is doing.

I mentioned this in a previous post but I need to point out that the second you start caring what other people are doing, you start criticizing and comparing your life to those of others. Well here's some news for you, YOU are NOT everyone ELSE. You are you and you are GREAT. When it comes to relationships, if you are happy and in love that is all that matters. It doesn't matter if you are living in a tiny apartment surviving paycheck to paycheck, or you "did it backwards" and got pregnant then got married, or you bought a house in your home town rather than moving away to college. Your happiness is YOUR happiness and the most toxic thing that you can do is bring out your insecurities by comparing your life to your neighbor's.

At the end of the day, you have someone that loves you. And at the end of the day, that person is the path you chose. Yes, it gets tough and we all have our hard times. But the thing NOT to do when it gets hard is to get on instagram and stalk that #goals couple you follow then feel crappy about yourself. We aren't all at the same stages in our lives. Even though that girl from your graduating class just got married with a baby on the way, does not mean you have to be doing that as well..and vice versa. It is FUN that we are all different and it's amazing that we all have someone out there that is meant for us. Just because you haven't found that person yet and your best friend did doesn't mean it will be that way forever..because we are all at different stages in our lives and guess what else, God has a wonderful plan for you :)

It sucks that Zach and I are broke and at a hard stage in our lives and in his career. But it just means we have the opportunity to be each other's anchors, and lift each other up out of our stress cluttered minds. We always try and look on the bright side of things. Whenever we have an argument or a tough talk about our stresses, we always sit down at the end and talk about why we are so great and how we can improve. We can't let our situation own us, we have to own our situation and push even harder forward. There is absolutely no reason to compare or be upset because we haven't gotten to where we want to be yet. I'm just gonna enjoy the ride and be patient {on my highway home}.

Thanks for letting me ramble..xo