Earning Your Keep

I have heard it from several people that you have to earn your place in this world and society. I think this can be taken to mean a lot of things. One way I look at this is you can never become “rich” unless you have once been poor. This even can be thought of in two ways: when you start to think about some of the most successful people in the world, they didn’t always have some of the best beginnings. Bill Gates was a college dropout, Charles Gardner (basis of the movie Pursuit of Happyness), Dwight Eisenhower and Abraham Lincoln both came from very humble backgrounds, and billionaire Oprah Winfrey all were in a dire time and have since turned into very successful people and citizens. Having to have that attitude where you scrutinize every expense and be creative to get by along with the pure desire and determination to be successful surely helped them out later in life. I think something else that will provide you with is a grounded attitude and appreciation for everything that you have.

I was very lucky to always have everything I needed growing up (although I always thought I needed more), and I am very thankful. I know that there are some children that are not that lucky. When I think back to how all my siblings started out it was a very humbling beginning. One of my brothers, in his first house out of college, lived in a 3 bedroom house with 3 other guys. Yeah, that’s right, 4 guys in a 3-bedroom house. So they ended up building a wall in one of the bedrooms to make room. Living off ramen noodles and whatever they could hunt and put in the freezer, it was definitely a little rough. Now, he is very successful and lives with his family in a house he built. Well as ironic as it may be I find myself in a very similar situation.

This deserves a new paragraph. I am currently living in an old 3-bedroom farmhouse that we are guessing was built sometime in the 20s-30s. I am living here with 3 of my college roommates, it has appropriately been tagged “The Boar’s Nest.” Even though we didn’t build any new walls we have done a lot of work on the place. I have a couple pictures I'll try to attach to show you some of the work we did, but in short: new wiring, new plumbing, paint, paint, paint, carpet, window panes, and CLEANING. The house was a little rough when we moved in to say the least. When it rains, there is a good game you can play called “catch the rain water,” the only problem is you play it in the bedrooms upstairs. I am decent at handywork and this house has challenged me endlessly. We haven’t been hitting the ramen noodles as much, but we have definitely been doing our part to keep expenses down. Last night, my bedroom had to be pushing 80 degrees, which saves money on AC and covers, haha.

A couple of people I work with have pointed out to me that I’m not working pro-bono and that I could probably afford a nicer place. While they are right, what is the fun in that? It really has been fun to fix up this house and try to be creative in order to save a little money, plus it is something to talk about. I think everyone I work with looks at it and remembers what it was like for them when they first graduated and a smile comes to their face. Now maybe they’re just laughing at me, but I think they are really remembering some great times they had from a time when they were younger. There is no doubt that I will have plenty of stories from this experience to share with my kids someday.

One thing I have not forgotten or taken a back seat on is getting involved in the community. I don’t really know any other way to be, its how I grew up. I have become involved in the local Farm Bureau, attending the local church, and would like to continue to become involved in more things that interest me. I’m putting down some temporary roots with no clue of how long they will last, but that is really how I like it. I believe that the opportunity that is right for me is going to present itself as long as I continue to work hard and do things the way I always have.