|
Not long after that a paper route - and then a second route - insured that I had to be
up to work and out by 4:30 to 5:00 a.m. each and every day, 7 days a week.
My work efforts did remove a lot of social time due to the time constraints I enforced on myself by operating several
businesses and working at several others.
It did however give me the attitude and understanding that working for myself was a viable way of producing
income.
Finding myself bored with school in the 10th grade, I went off to work and later got my GED.
Not having any family outside of the immediate left me not able to emulate anyone other than my dad and so
I adopted his "all work, no play" mindset for a while.
But as I grew, I decided I wanted just the opposite of what he was doing. Thus, I became somewhat of a bum here
and there for a while. Work for a while, then play for a period until the funds ran out, then back to work - that
was my cycle.
I waited until I was older to marry as I just wasn't ready to take on the responsibility and be locked in the
"support type" idea.
That's when things changed drastically for me and I ended up locked into finding out what it was I wanted to do when I "grew
up". I became a truck driver simply for the somewhat independence of me and the truck, once out of the barn.
In the late 80's, partnership failure and financial loss (I was somewhere between 100K and 300K in debt) really
put me in a deep depression for several years. Finally, in 1990 I just decided that it was better not to think, but
rather to just go through the motions.
God blessed me with a decent truck driving job where I just showed up, did my job and got paid decently for a
60 to 70 hour work week.
By the late 90's I figured that my seniority would allow me to work less hours until I was ready to retire somewhere
between the age of 62 and 66.
I got into a comfort zone - no dreams, no motivation. You see, my dreams were all gone, my motivation lost in the
partnership failure. I was just getting along - just getting by, day by day.
I also discovered that I had no other real skills. Sure, I had some little successes in real estate, but I got a bad
taste having to deal with lawyers, realtors and - most of all - tenants, so I decided I just didn't want to go
there.
Being a truck driver was all I was really able to do.
Then things changed again for me. In the end of '99 I got a back injury while unloading a truck. I struggled through
extreme pain and therapy rehabilitation for a year, all the time expecting to be able to go back to truck driving.
Once again my dreams slipped away! Doctors informed me that I had three bulging discs - one on top of the other - and
driving a truck or any kind of real physical work was no longer in my future.
I spent the next two years trying to get a lawyer and my insurance company to provide some kind of re-training so that I
could work again. But it was not to happen. I got dumped over by the lawyer and ended up out on the street because of
financial problems - now astronomical as they built over the last 3 years with little or no income to offset them. I ended up
with a 15K settlement and a "Good Luck!" wish.
And the problem kept growing. Social Security said I could be a parking lot attendant if I could find the right situation so
I didn't qualify there. Cold weather was really bad (or great) at increasing back pain. With doctors' recommendation for warmth
I moved to a warmer climate.
|
|
My Philosophies of Life
My first and primary belief is that God is in control - not me.
I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and consider Him to be my Lord and Savior.
I strive and pray to be the person He would have me to be.
My family is second only to God
My family is of the utmost importance in my life outside of my Lord.
I am here and alive to help others.
I believe that if I am able to help enough other folks get what they want, it will come
back to me as what I want.
Teach and guide others.
This goes hand-in-hand with helping others. Even though I've had a wide variety of useless jobs, I have
been told many times that I am a good leader and teacher.
This is where I now concentrate my efforts - helping and
training folks to build their home
based business interest.
|