I grew up mostly in a single parent home. My parents separated around the time that my sister was born. My mother never remarried. We struggled for much of that time and dealt with the loss of a house and two apartment evictions during my childhood.
When I was in high school we eventually were without a home of our own. We spent a year moving from one friend's home to another and at one point, my mother tried to get us into a homeless shelter. And I have to tell you that was the most humilating experience of my teenage years. I am so glad that we failed to get into any shelter. I would eventually live with my Aunt and my mother and sister moved back in with my grandparents. Family tensions had prevented us from living with them in the past and those tensions made living with them quite stressful for everyone involved.
There were also times when our family was on welfare and getting food stamps. That was also an experience that I am not very fond of. Dealing with government services was and still is a hassle. You approach these agencies and are treated like a low life piece of crap. And I will tell you that most of the people seeking services from these agencies ARE low life pieces of crap. But many people are just down on their luck. Some have given up on life and some are just lazy.
The experiences I've had growing up have taught me that I could do better. I felt so low of my life at that time that I decided that I would set a higher standard for myself. And at that point I became a workaholic. Whatever it took, I had to step up to the plate. It did not matter what kind of job I had to get as long as it was legal and offered a paycheck. So for 20 years I have worked more than one job at the same time.
I have proven my abilities well enough that in 20 years I have had only 2 major employers. And I managed to earn a good income. But I got tired of having to answer to STUPID bosses. I knew that I could do better than what I was doing so in early 2005 after 11 years with my last employer I quit my job.
Today I am developing a service business. I perform a service for several companies as an independent contractor AND I work an evening job AND I work a weekly job one day per week. Eventually I will be completely my own boss. It has been a long haul and it will continue to be. But I refuse to give up or slow down.
It is because of my life experience that I work so much. My only problem is that I worked so much that I haven't gone to college yet. I kept promising myself that I would go to college by a certain date or age. First it was age 21, then it was 25, then it was age 30. But by age 30 I had some personal issues to deal with that would have made going to school a waste of money.
Well I have dealt with those personal issues and my sister and I dealt with the severe health problems of both our mother and grandmother. They are both gone now and I need to move forward. I need to step up to the plate again and work for the home run. Actually I need to make it a grand-slam home run. I may be old enough to have a kid in college now but I plan to be attending a college soon. No more promises. It's time for "a little less conversation and a little more action". (I like that song by Elvis Presley.)
A college degree will enhance my income and business abilities. Not to mention a whole lot more respect, dignity and pride in myself. That for me is more valuable than money. (well maybe)
I say all of this only to remind myself that I need to get off of my ass and do something. Anything. And I hope others will read this, take a look at their life and situation and get up off of their asses and do something.
I am not where I wanted to be at this point in my life. And there are people half my age that are twice as far ahead of me. And I must catch up. No excuses! I HAVE to catch up.
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