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Back in the day, when I was a landscaper, I loved my job. I didn't necessarily like my boss, or some of the people I worked with, but I really enjoyed getting out into the world, going to that new client's residence, or driving the one-ton to McMinnville to buy a load of plant stock, or walking a property, designing and laying out a new irrigation system. It was real, it was fun, it was WORK. For fifteen years and more I had a hell of a time.
But as my legs failed me, and I was less and less able to keep up with the demands of my job, I know I sometimes gave the impression I was getting lazy (in reality, I was in great pain, and simply, physically could not do the work they were paying me for anymore). At the end, after resisting the inevitable direction of things for so long, I finally had to give in and leave the work I loved.
For the longest time I felt I had made a terrible mistake-- I had no training or experience in anything outside my chosen field-- I'd been there too long without anticipating my uncertain future. Granted, I had years of experience in the fine art of talking with people on their own turf, making them feel comfortable, and ultimately selling basically myself and my company (damned successfully, I might add!), but other than that, I was just a washed up grass cutter with a steel knee, who had never gone to college and had never gained any real edjumucation. I stayed unemployed and desperate for six years.
Well, I DID have other talents, but had practiced my craft strictly as a hobby-- I learned computer hardware inside and out, and started building and fixing computers. (It was a genetic thing-- my father used to be able to toss a handful of electronic components into the air, and down would fall the working device he had been thinking of. He had a powerful, logical, inventive mind, and I believe I inherited at least a small part of that from him.) But I had become lazy-- I languished in my dark little room, living on my easy disability check each month. I sat at my desk, many times with the lights out, and started getting fat and middle-aged. I knew deep down I was wasting my life, and I hated myself for it, but being the lazy slob I had become, I sat and vegitated.
I recently got fed up with myself, decided to open the window blinds, let some fresh air into the room, and actually stand up and rejoin humanity (such as it is). I decided to put my small talent to work, and after taking a few evening refresher courses, I drove downtown, registered as a DBA home computer repair business (it only costs $11.00!), and I went over to the local sign shop and bartered some computer repairs for signs for my truck. I became a business owner! Damn!
It didn't take but a very few DAYS to join forces with another independent repairman-- his leads, along with a home-designed and printed Publisher brochure I was posting at the local WalMart public bulletin boards (this really works!), has led to almost daily work. Suddenly, without even hardly thinking about it, I found myself with my first thousand dollars in my business account! The inquiries are steadily coming in, and it looks like my little home business is taking off with very little effort.
IT'S EASY, PEOPLE!!! If you knew me, and hung out with me, you would be astounded-- I am NOT a business person. No college, no clue, no business sense (I have a math block a mile wide-- finance scares the hell out of me!)-- but this stuff actually works!
The point of this whole long self-serving tirade is, people, DON'T GIVE UP. I know exactly how hard and terrifying it is to lose your livelihood-- when I finally had to leave the city I'd lived in for over fifteen years, I actually had just fifty dollars left in my pocket. (When I had to move away, I was helped out by a close friend, and a loving sister, who continues to encourage me to this day. Bless her loving heart!)
I spent the next six years trying to avoid all contact with the real world, and in the end, when I got sick of watching myself dissolve into a disenchanted mound of blubber, it was almost too simple to stand back up and begin again. It still freaks me out! Is that ME I see in the mirror? Too, too cool!
So, to those of you who are standing on the edge of the abyss, mark my words-- if you just look at yourself, and find something you are good at, don't just sit there in the dark. DO SOMETHING WITH WHAT YOU HAVE. Try it. Make something of it. Don't give up. Don't freak. Don't despair. Start your own business if you can! If you are willing to let things happen, you may just find that abyss isn't as deep, or as dark, or as hard to cross as you now believe it to be.
Don't let today's desperation win! Do anything you have to, but don't be scared to start over. You have something we out here can make use of. It's up to you to discover what it is you have to offer us, and JUST DO IT. Trust me-- If a disillusioned, lazy, ex-alcoholic loner like me can make it happen, then by the grace of God and the strength of your own will so can you.
And you can take that to the bank!
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Note-- I just called my partner, and he has a full day's work for me tomorrow... $45 per hour-- KCHING!!
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