The Joneses live on the wrong road

Have you ever heard the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses?" Chances are you have and know that it means the same as trying to do what everyone else does when sometimes you either can't afford to do what the Joneses do or you shouldn't do what the Joneses do.

When you drive through certain neighborhoods, many times houses are similar and neighborhoods themselves are characterized by the people who live on a specific road.You see, the trouble with this is, the Joneses don't always live on the right road. Sometimes the Joneses live on the road to financial trouble. Sometimes the Joneses live on the road to friends that forsake you. Sometimes the Joneses live on the road to addictions that drag you down. Sometimes the Joneses live on the road to lost goals and ambitions, lost hopes, and lost dreams. Sometimes the Joneses just live on the road to unhappiness. Sometimes, keeping up with the Joneses is not a bed of roses, or at least that's what Thompson Square says. Take a look at these lyrics:

"Keeping Up With The Joneses"

Just one, I know I can handle that
Pull that bottle from its hiding place yea, just one
And I'll put it back
And it’s one after another till your key turns in the door
And I'll slur baby I'm sorry as you help me off the floor

[Chorus:]
I've been fighting my demons
I've been gaining ground
Crawling, walking then falling back down
It ain't been a bed of roses
Keeping up with the Joneses

That bottle, just won’t let me be
It’s killed everything that’s good in my life and now it’s working on me
Well I've come to believe, that whiskey is a spell
And you were sent straight down from heaven, to pull me out of hell

[Chorus]

Any man in his right mind would have set me free, given up on me
Said we're through
But baby not you
Someday I'll bury my demons deep in the ground
If I have never met you that’s where id be now
It ain't been a bed a roses keeping up with the Joneses [2x]

You see, so many times we search for happiness by trying to keep up the Joneses, by trying to emulate those who, more often than not, are not happy anyway. 

We all have areas in life in which we've failed or had difficulty. Sometimes we try to hide those failures and cope with them with things or wrong actions. The way you cope with things is by pushing through and by finding strength, not in keeping up with the Joneses, but in the helping hand of those who were probably there to help all along.

I really wish that people would realize that happiness in not found in the abundance of things one possesses or in actions that conform to the crowd. People put so much effort into trying to find happiness in the wrong place when it's right under their noses. 

So, I implore you today to forget the things. Forget the struggles. Fight on and look for happiness right where you left-in those who care the most!

And remember...sometimes the Joneses just live on the wrong road!

That, my friends, is just a few thoughts from a small town southern man!