deputydawg
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2004
- Messages
- 1,607
Just sitting here tonight wondering about life as I do so often.<br />I was looking at the calander tonight trying to schedule a meeting for my office. I realized that on Tuesday I will be turning 35. It is a slow night, so while cruising around I started thinking of my life. I have been thinking my in-laws were right. I have gone against everything they believe in. They are from the school of thought where a man graduates school, gets a job, marries, buys a house signaling the end of life. That is where they stay for the rest of their lives, either out of fear of change or whatever. I have changed jobs and careers a few times, done a lot of traveling and just enjoyed my life. <br />I look back and see that I am deep in debt, until the past month so far in the red we have been shorting ourselves down to 1 meal a day to feed our kids. Usually finances don't get me down, but last year they did. <br />Don't get me wrong here, I am not here for sympathy. I have been on a few different chat rooms and boards over the years, and found that most of them are full of depressed people whining about themselves. Although I am not on here often, and am fairly new here, I feel comfortable and somewhat at home here. I am not whining or looking for sympathy or any of the other stuff people seek on most internet sites. I read a post tonight from a member here about finances. <br />recently I spoke with an old high school classmate. I am shocked at the number of people from my class still living with mom and dad, still flipping burgers waiting for the big break, and so on. I see that I am pretty fortunate. Anyway, what are the success (or failure) stories that brought everyone here to where they are now?<br />Myself, I got my first job farming when I was 13. I had worked before that during summer months doing light farm work, but nothing stabile until then. It was good for me too because I learned a lot. Also my parents were very hard workers but were poor. I learned a lot from my mother and father about hard work and working for everything you have. I can say that even being in the trouble I am I have EARNED everything I have. Since the age 13 I can't remember a summer I didn't work. I only remember a few winter months I did not work. I skipped playing sports for working after school. <br />Since then I have worked as a farm hand, construction, demolition, truck driver, worked in a wholesale warehouse loading trucks, (when I was a young kid I hung out on the loading docks making extra money unloading trucks for tired drivers). I have cooked hamburgers, washed dishes, roofed houses, even dug ditches for a water line. <br />I am miles from where I started. I started as a farm hand when I got married. Went to college and became an automotive tech, had my own shop for a while. My in-laws have made it clear in the past that I am a jack of all trades, master of none. It is no secret that I should have followed the rest of the lemings and stuck with the same job for all of my adult life. I should have had my first child before I was 30 according to them. Even now the MIL says I need to stop working night shift since I have kids. There is something degrading to her about night shift workers. <br />I look at myself and this is what I see. <br />I have done everything I wanted to do for the most part. I have held and given up on several fortunes. I owned a hog farm that was growing fast and a good money maker but hated the smell. My shop was in the perfect location and was a good money maker, but I was faced with expanding and hiring someone. I didn't want to do that. I managed my families ranch after a few deaths one year. In 3 years I had built up to a large cattle herd, no farm debt, and growing at a good pace. I got out of that because 1, it wasn't fulfilling enough for me 2, too much family involvement since the estates split everything between my mother and her 5 brothers 3, I refused to raise kids in that area of the country and 4, my wife wanted to start her carreer. <br />We had a great almost debt free life, owed on a car and that was all. We lived very well off of 13,000 a year in 1992. Then my wife, while between jobs and out of insurance, got sick and needed surgery. debt came on then. <br />At 27 decided it was time to start a family and give my parents and in-laws the grandkids they "needed". 3 years later doctor said never happen. Fertility treatments gave us one perfect baby girl, then we couldn't find how to shut it off. Had baby girl #2 and baby boy. <br />I was the worthless man when I changed careers into law enforcement because I had the ranch. Between mine and the families I had over 10,000 acreas and 500 breeding stock. <br />early in ouyr marriage we traveled the country. I have traveled in all but a few states and in foreign countries. I have raced NASCAR and NHRA as well as motorcycle drags and dirt. I have rode rodeo stock both for work and fun. I have seen too many awsome sunsets and sunrises, mountains and prairies that will take your breath away. <br />Now I have everything I need, have a few things I don't need. I work long stressful but not labor intensive hours, and work 3 jobs. I am the luckiest man in the world when I wake up with my kids tickeling me every morning. <br />I don't let being broke slow me down much. If I want something I work harder for it. My debt is for a house and 2 cars, so isn't outrageous. <br />I have gone on forever like usual. Now for the question I wanted to post. <br />What led you to where and who you are today?<br />Can you look back and say "I have no regrets and have missed nothing"?
<br /><br />Aldo
