Imagine yourself at 40. You wake up to wash the shit out of your eyes, look in the mirror...tired and defeated. The thought of going in to the daily grind and killing yourself to pay the same bills and the same bullshit the wife needs and the kids need every month like a revolving door. It never ends. You look over to your wife in bed....she's unemployed again. "They had to make cuts at work, oh well" She will tout after months of being home all day, not one new job applied for that isn't brought to her on a silver platter.

You start every single day stressed out. The first thought every day is how your paycheck is barely going to cover the bills. Your wife is collecting unemployment but has been using it for her own habits and interests. The kids are living breathing running liabilities that tie the two of you together, long after the love has died. Maybe for her it was never too strong to begin with.

You say goodbye as you walk out the door, knowing full well you will come back to a filthy home, because your unemployed wife was busy shopping and on Facebook all day. The kids will be hungry. You won't have the energy to spend time with them. You can feel the divorce coming in the air...it just hasn't been brought up yet. She's been distant lately and has plenty of newfound free time on her hands, subsidized by you and the state.

You close the door behind you and try to rationalize how long you have before she drops the hammer and ruins you emotionally, financially, and takes your dignity. You just want those years of your life back but you had the false impression that this was the path to a secure and stable future.

You have been sold. It's a lie, and there is no getting that time back. Your best and most energetic years are behind you. The phrase "opportunity cost" has never bared down on you so hard. You realize you have lived the differed life plan...putting off your self preservation and prosperity for a false representation.

All you can do now is share your experience, you can still save someone else.