Tag Archives: inspiration

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Friday Afternoon Ramblings – 6/21/2019

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Two and a half years ago, I had a hand-me-down Pontiac on its last legs, a handful of tools that were mostly worn out, and not much else. The lady I had been working for online sent me a message one afternoon that said some friends of hers needed some dirt moved around for a flower bed. That was her pitch. Some dirt moved around.

I have a master’s degree in writing. Once upon a time, I was a bestselling author, ranked number #134 of all books on Amazon. Not all fantasy books. All books, fiction and nonfiction. I was #2 in fantasy. I’ve delivered presentations to crowds of hundreds. I was a college instructor for over 16 years.

A tiny sliver of me felt insulted, humiliated, and demeaned that I had been reduced to moving around some dirt. But only a tiny sliver.

The rest of me saw an opportunity. Building a flower bed is my kind of work. Physical labor, dirt, nature. I could already see the flowers growing. In the back of my mind, I thought: landscaping business.

See, here’s the beauty of America and the free market. Everything is capital. You don’t have to have money to possess capital. An idea is a form of it. Your skills are a form of it. Anything and everything you can imagine can be transformed into an asset. I didn’t have much material wealth, but I did have a strong body, a broad knowledge base, a plethora of skills, and a vision for becoming my own boss.

Anyone who is willing to take the risks and put in the effort can develop their own business. The universe is full of problems that need to be solved, and people and businesses are willing to pay to have their problems taken care of.

That’s all for now.

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Wednesday Afternoon Ramblings – 6/19/2019

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One of the most important lessons I have learned in life is to stop worrying about the things I cannot control. I have zero influence over politics, so I no longer give politics my energy. That change alone has made me so much happier and healthier than I was back when I was plugged into the “daily outrage machine.”

I have no control over other people’s actions. The only thing I can effect is my reaction to their actions. After losing so many friends and family members, I had to teach myself to let go and move on. I simply cannot dwell on what others think of me, no matter how close we may have been. There are people I miss, of course, and from time to time I reminisce about our friendships, but overall, those people are quite simply dead to me and are not welcome in my present reality.

I cannot control overall market forces. I can, however, pay attention to and anticipate how those forces will affect my life. In terms of risk management, I try not to put myself into volatile situations. From being at the very bottom, I learned that there are always jobs out there that people don’t want to do for whatever reason (hard labor, dirt, danger), but they will pay someone else to take care of it. In that regard, the market for my services is relatively stable, as long as I’m willing to and capable of handling it.

I can’t control what memories or emotions bubble up on a daily basis. I can control my reaction to them. If anger comes up, I let it pass and move on. I can’t let anger consume me. If I have a twinge of self-pity, I push it aside as quickly as possible. That won’t help anything. Every single day, I make a concerted effort to focus on the blessings and positives in my life, and that focus has done more to heal me than anything else.

That’s all for now.

New Ramblings

Tuesday Afternoon Ramblings – 6/18/2019

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This time three years ago, I had virtually nothing in terms of material possessions. No car, no savings, no real furniture, and just a handful of clothes. My home was barely inhabitable from my time away. To make matters worse, my credit score was in the low 500s, and my reputation was ruined. Probably 90% of the people I had considered friends or family had turned their backs on me.

There were some very dark nights.

I could have chosen to focus on all of those negatives and wallowed in self pity, and most likely, no one would have blamed me for just giving up. But if you know me at all, you should know that I don’t quit easily. Instead of the negatives, I turned my focus to the things I did have: that 10% who remained by my side, my recovered health from that God awful neurological illness that had nearly crippled me, my resolve to rebuild my life and rebuild my relationship with my kids.

For the first couple of months, I focused on cleaning my home and searching for a job. Because of the circumstances, no one wanted to hire me. Even shitty janitorial type openings were denied to me. My first real break came when two of my dearest friends gave me an old car that had sat undriven for a couple of years. I cannot tell you how profoundly this simple act of charity impacted my life. I will always be grateful for their love and generosity. My father helped me get the car running, and suddenly I had a modicum of independence back.

The second big break came when a different friend helped me secure a part-time online job. The pay was pretty good for the work involved, but the real boon was that the lady who hired me was so impressed by my work ethic that she recommended me to friends who were looking for a groundskeeper/handyman for their property. That may not sound like a glamorous job, but that work became the foundation for the businesses I would begin.

That’s all for now.