Mo Money, Mo Problems MY ASS!

My $.02

Mo money, mo problems? My Ass!

One of my goals of striving to be successful is that when you're successful, you get to choose your own problems.

Here's a partial list of problems I don't have, either because I've "overcome" them or because I just got lucky:

hunger
fear
religious / other persecution*
restricted movement
poverty
lack of education
lack of medical care
lack of fresh water
inadequate shelter
inability to have children* or control birth rate
starving children
unemployment
birth defects*
low intelligence*
"special needs" children*
serious injury / disability*
mental illness*
health problems*
mental / physical abuse*
lack of love*
inability to communicate
illegal citizenship*
homosexuality (not that it is a problem, but the dealing with society aspects, etc)*
bad / missing parents*

* indicates where I just got plain lucky. All of the others involve personal choices to some degree.

Me, I love my problems. I think about them a lot. I savor them. Since I got to create them, I figure that I may as well enjoy them!

For instance, today, I had to spend an hour talking to headhunters. Jesus, can't a man check his voicemail in this country without someone offering him a job?

I had to create a separate folder in my inbox just for recruiter's email asking if I'd be interested in this position or that one. God, sorting all this email takes so much TIME!

Yesterday my wife said she wanted a new truck. For God's sake, I just ordered a new car that hasn't come in yet, and her new 4x4 is barely a month old. Isn't 5 vehicles and a motorcycle enough for two people?

We still haven't decided what to do about educating our beautiful, healthy daughter. She seems to be gifted, which just makes the decision that much more difficult!

My wife and daughter went to look at horses over the weekend. We already have 4 dogs and 2 cats, including the world's biggest lap dog who sleeps in the bed with us. How much love from animal companions do you need?

Today, I had to make a very difficult decision as to whether I would start my new job making good money in one location or take a consulting job paying really good money with travel. Why do I have to make all the hard decisions?

I really need to lose some weight. Food is so bountiful around here that I eat way more than I need, and since I don't have to do anything physical like hunt or fight, it goes straight to my gut. Why does all the good food make me fat?

I need to go sign some papers later this week at 8 am, which means I have to get up early on Thursday. Now if I stay up late Wednesday watching DVDs or Tivo on my 57" HDTV with surround sound, I'll be tired all day. That is so unfair!

I need to figure out what to do with the laptop my brother gave me back. I already have one for me, one for my wife, and gave two to my parents and mother-in-law. Why do I have to have to deal with so many laptops?

Yeesh. What a bother, dealing with all this stuff!

What's funny about humans is that we NEED problems. We NEED a certain amount of stress in our lives, so when there are no serious problems we have to create something to solve, something to worry about. If you've ever heard a really rich person talk about the problems with their poodles, or the old rap cliche "Mo money, mo problems", you've seen this yourself.

To me, having the ability to decide what your problems are is a real measure of success. For a long time, I've wondered about how to objectively define success. Is it when you've made $8 million dollars, is it when you've cured a disease, is it when you've won a national title? I still don't know, but to me, the point in your life in which all the real problems are solved and you have to grow your own indicates a certain degree of success that most people just take for granted. They don't even see that their problems are man-made, created, manufactured just so they can have something to worry about. What's funny is that so many of these people whine about their "problems" just like they were broke and their children were starving. They just don't see it - just don't allow themselves to stop worrying and be happy.

This almost always applies to people who have never had to worry about real problems. Paris Hilton is not successful. She's lucky. And she still whines.

When someone has solved all of the survival issues, the food, the shelter, the education issues on their own and had to move on to worry about other things, I think that person is successful. You have overcome the serious issues, and now you get to pick and choose.

Congratulations! Welcome to the club!

Now if you'll excuse me, Now I have to go look for my PDA. I think I lost it after my $20 lunch. Why do these things always happen to me?

Chuck

*Note - I've gotten some feedback on this from people who didn't "get it". I'm sorry if things aren't great for you right now, but this is really about the Human Condition - not material things. Read it again.

Have an opinion? I'd like to hear it - even if you're wrong :-) . Drop me a comment on the Contact Me page.