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Suck it up

December 2nd, 2012 at 03:50 pm

I just read a post by a guy who is complaining about having to work long hours, his wife is sick, his daughter can't afford a school trip, and he's tired of working long hours. Well, that prompted me to write this post.

I started my working career in the US military. The military works long hours. I used to deploy to far off places, and I've been in tight situations. I didn't see my wife or kids for months at a time, sometimes. Yes, it was hard, but someone has to do these things to keep America free. If the folks still in the military were not there, the rest of us would maybe actually appreciate them in more than words. But that's not the point of my post.

Everyone always has it better than someone else. I have an old military buddy who had over 10 years of hard times. Mostly, they were his own fault, but that's not the point. He finally got his stuff back together. Within a year, he was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer.

Are you better off than him?

So, the OP of the offending post thinks life is hard and everyone's out to get him. I've worked thirty years to get to where I am. I live on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai (look it up online). It's like a resort. I still put in about 50 to 70 hours per week. I love what I do, and my retirement - if I ever actually retire - will be comfortable, to say the least.

I had hard times. I had tons of debt. I had medical bills. I had people close to me die without warning.

Yet, I survived. I love my life.

I don't care if I seem to be bragging. I've worked my butt off to get where I'm at, and I'm "living the dream." I only wish I had smartened up sooner and stopped borrowing sooner.

Anyone else reading this, you can be a lot worse off than you are. Count your blessings and flip off the evil that besets your life. It happens to everyone. If you keep working, you can make yourself and your family comfortable, too. Hard work is always rewarded, eventually.

But if you have a pissy attitude, don't expect anyone else to be there for you. You make your life what it is, and you have to live with what you make.

Posted in Ramblings, Employment | 4 Comments »

4 Responses to “Suck it up”

  1. LuckyRobin Says:
    December 3rd, 2012 at 12:32 am 1354494763
    1354494763

    I do think attitude is so important in these things.

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    December 3rd, 2012 at 02:17 am 1354501055
    1354501055

    I agree attitude is important, and it can be frustrating to watch people founder when much of it is self-made.

  3. wowitsawonderfullife Says:
    December 3rd, 2012 at 02:41 am 1354502486
    1354502486

    Many of us are new to this. We may have had a lack of education, lack of funds to make things right. My parents had terrible role models but I was lucky to learn from their mistakes. And to educate myself. And I learned a lot from this forum. You have lots of life experience Wino so in addition to sharing your experience you also have a chance to affect change for others. So I would only ask that you be gentle with the newbies. We have much to learn from you and I thank you for your input.

  4. Jerry Says:
    December 3rd, 2012 at 09:29 am 1354526943
    1354526943

    I agree that there is a lot to be said for how one's mindset leads to either success or failure. Of course, lots of people know nothing else but perceived victimhood, and/or have no idea whatsoever about how to dig themselves out of their situations. Some of the best insurance for success is to believe that it's possible and be willing to work for it... but without that initial belief, it's just not likely to happen. Where did your belief come from, wino? As a fellow veteran, I think that the military probably played a significant part in that evolution. Smile Jerry

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