I wasn't. I was brought home to a trailer.
I have friends whose parents have fantastic incomes. These people had every opportunity laid out on a staircase in front of them, but they made choices that have resulted in a more difficult, less desirable life. You can have anything you want in this world... but here's a tip: people don't pay much for tickets to the whine show.
My friend Justin was born, according to what you guys would probably say, from a significantly "unfair" standpoint: he's black. Yet in all of the times I've hung out with him, I have
never once heard him say anything slightly negative about what it's like to be black. He has
never once taken a victim attitude and spoken of how life isn't "fair". He knows that such things won't get him anywhere in life... but hard work will. And work hard, he does. He's an actor, model, dating coach, and poker player. He makes a lot of money because he works his ass off to stay in top shape, improve his value as a person, and give others what they want. He pulls in $500/hour for doing photo shoots for JcPenney catalogs, and takes in $2,000-$15,000 for appearances in movies and TV commercials. Another way he's made money was when I hired him for $700 and bought his plane ticket to Houston a few weekends ago to help me revamp my wardrobe. Not bad for two days worth of "work" that chiefly involved hanging out in a mall with a friend. And one of the ways I've been able to afford to do that was by working hard to get good at poker and having the willingness to risk money gambling against others. Last night, I was on ESPN briefly from footage taped during this summer's World Series of Poker. And because at that time I agreed to a sponsorship deal with an online poker room, they're giving me $10,000 just for making it on TV while wearing their hat! (I owe our very own f3lix $2,000 of this because he was savvy enough to strike a deal involving a swap of 20% of each other's sponsorship equity in the tournament).
I know it's easy to fall into the trap of whining about how life isn't fair. But while you're doing that, keep in mind there are people who are ascending from a less-than-advantageous starting point in life (like myself... and to a much greater extent, Justin) to chase and hopefully realize all of our wildest dreams and aspirations. One of my wildest dreams and aspirations to help people reach theirs. In fact, I'd say that is
the dream of my life. Nothing I can think of brings me more happiness than the thought of starting a company through which I can give my friends and family members opportunities to share their gifts with the world. I think I can be a great motivator and a giver of opportunity to a lot of people. One of the areas in which I need to improve in order to realize this dream is to avoid the trap of being judgmental and condescending. I get discouraged and frustrated too easily. This is something I'm sure most of you on here have noticed me do... but I know I'm better than that! It will be hard, but I hope my development as an individual involves maintaining awareness of the bigger picture and not getting caught up in small-minded negativity. This change in the way in which I treat others is something that means a lot to me, and I'm focusing on making it happen.
Me
Justin
