Common Denominators

Good afternoon and thanks for checking out the blog. So, What's Good today, Scott? I am glad that you asked. Common Denominators are good, but I must lay groundwork for this post, right from the jump. Important things to consider:
1. I am not good at math in any sort of way.
2. I know that money is cool and wish I had more of it. I am not dumb.

Now, I am sure that you are saying "WHOA, Scott! Common Denominators?!?!?! Are you seriously gonna' come at me with some math on this blog which is typically silly and occasionally insightful? Why would you bring math into this?!?! You are, at best, a traitor to happiness, Scott. Unsubscribed!" Whilst unkind, that is fair criticism from the reader, but I guarantee you that it ain't like that. My brilliant, life-affirming realization that I will share with you today has much more to do with perspective than math.

Common Denominators are, at least, good to be aware of. The dictionary definition from Google.com is "a shared multiple of the denominators of several fractions." Helpwithfractions.com provides this as an example:

To find the least common denominator, simply list the multiples of each denominator (multiply by 2, 3, 4, etc. out to about 6 or seven usually works) then look for the smallest number that appears in each list.

So, that's the math talk, for posterity sake. Where I am going with it is a bit different.

In my previous employment situation, I did not have to work on Saturdays. Recently, on a Saturday, my family and I got into our car (often in disrepair) and drove to an exotic eatery, known as Hurt's Donuts. It is their favorite. They feature all kinds of delicious, confectionery masterpieces. For instance, the "E.T." donut. This is a chocolate cake donut with peanut butter icing and Reese's Pieces. Their donuts are cute, costly, and enjoyable. It always ends up being about a $17-$20 excursion, so it isn't cheap. But, the kids love it, it can be budgeted for and it is fun.

This one Saturday, we were going to make our pilgrimage and the kids were wildin' out like Nick Cannon. It took everything inside of me to not turn into a grump. I started trying to zoom out and look at the situation from an aerial view. This is common practice for me. "How could this be worse? Aren't we happy that it isn't?" The words bounced around my head and conjured visions of all kinds of things. "I'm lucky to be able to afford $17 of donuts! My kids might be difficult, but at least I'm not having to wonder if this is their last Saturday of life because of some diagnosis. At least my son broke my phone today and not his orbital bone, etc..." I focus on the ways it could be worse and rejoice that it is not, but a funny thing happened on this Saturday... I started to think of how things could be better instead. Uh Oh!

"Wouldn't it be nice to have a better car? We'd fit great in a Subaru. I wish I wasn't so concerned that $17 is going to break my budget. Wouldn't it be nice if my kids were honor roll students who struggled with being too obedient? Etc..." I was being jealous of non-existent people. That's kinda silly. I needed to generate some positivity. So, I started the same way as usual, but found that it led me somewhere different:

1. This may not be the best car, but it has never left me stranded and with my money the way it is I am damn lucky to have it. Rich people have car payments and car problems...even more expensive ones, but the truth is that I HAVE A CAR TO TAKE ON SILLY FAMILY ADVENTURES, just like a rich person.
2. We are driving to another city for donuts. People of wealth will often take vacations or excursions for fun. I may not be weekending in the Napa Valley, because my job lets me make my own hours, but I get to be off on a Saturday and use that time to go for an adventure that ends in something as frivolous as donuts.
3. $17 is not even walking around money for most people, but it was significant for our budget. People who have more, spend more and therefore whilst the scale is different, there are common denominators. $20/$400 is technically the same percentages as $200/$4000. Get it?
4. My kids are nuttier than an outhouse, but they are mine and I love them. Kids from well-off families have similar problems. So what does it matter?

See what I mean? At the end of the day, I might have been stressed that one kid needed a kolache which inflated our costs. At the end of the day, I might have been tired because one kid had to be physically restrained. At the end of the day I might have nearly lost my mind because one kid could not handle the fact that the soda was wrong. At the end of the day, I was not driving in a fancy car. But, at the end of the day...I got to spend time with my kids (who I love) and drive in a car (which got me there) and buy some donuts (which I could afford). If we look at these common denominators, I had a pretty good day and while someone might have had a better one, if we subjected it to some fractional division (I'm just drunk with math now) they would have probably been conceptually closer than I thought.

Common Denominators are What's Good today. Find the common denominators in your life and make yourself happy...no one else will. It might take some math, but I bet you will find similar results.