curtis123
July 17th, 2009, 6:45 pm
I am a product of America and I owe much to her. A few decades ago, I was an arrogant , rebellious teen turned alcoholic by his early twenties, a victim only of his own stupidity and a weight on society. At my worst, I was living out of my pickup truck for a short time in Minneapolis, too stubborn to come crawling home for anyone’s sympathy.
Through the wisdom of maturity, the painful education of consequences and the love of a good woman, I eventually made a productive citizen of myself. Nearly 30 years later, I am by most standards, wealthy. I’m an owner of a successful, growing company, employer of a great staff of people and a husband and Father of three, trying desperately to show my mistakes to my own children, so they don’t repeat them.
Life is good.
Although there were times I thought I could use it, I never accepted one dime of welfare or public assistance along the way. To me, that was to help people trapped by circumstances, not for people like myself, who were living with their mistakes.
Yes, there are “haves” and “have-nots” in America and the world. There has been and always will be. I have been both. Adversity is a great motivator and at the right moment in life, a blessing that few recognize or heed.
When I was a “have-not”, never once did it occur to me that I should be sharing in the rewards of the more ambitious. I’ve never thought that I deserved to live like a king, while behaving like a fool. And I certainly have never thought that the people who have worked hard for and risked their fortunes should be made ashamed for reaping the benefits from their efforts. The rich have never owed me anything. I was raised knowing that, in America, we’re all responsible for our own futures. If someone becomes prosperous, good for them. After all, that is the goal, isn’t it?
If I had never tasted the sour rewards of my irresponsibility and apathy, I would never have become who I am today. If government forced the wealthy to help me live more comfortably, I would most likely have taken it for granted , squandered it, and I’d still be the drunk living in the truck stop parking lot in Minneapolis, if I were alive at all.
Some people say I owe it to America to pay her back for the opportunities given to me. Yes, I do.
I owe America for not paying me for work I didn‘t do.
For not rewarding me for talents I don‘t have.
For not heaping blessings on me for contributions I never made to society.
I owe her for being the stoic, unwavering reality of free will and showing me the way to true, respectful prosperity for myself and my family.
Did my country do me any favors for not “bailing me out” years ago? It most certainly did. Such unearned rewards would have been poison to my own future. Instead, she made me work, sacrifice and think my way to success.
America didn’t nurture me into a good citizen. She forged me into a greater man. The best way I can repay her is by forging and encouraging others by example.
There are so many in America that are swimming circles in their own little lukewarm pool of mediocrity, blaming everyone but themselves for putting them there and waiting most of their lives for someone else to come along and pull them out.
They think that somehow, it’s America’s job to lay prosperity at their feet.
I owe America and the patriots who have defended her simply for the open playing field of freedom and equality, so that a wretch like myself could pursue happiness, and find the eventual discovery that the real promise of America is not the happiness, but the pursuit itself.
Through the wisdom of maturity, the painful education of consequences and the love of a good woman, I eventually made a productive citizen of myself. Nearly 30 years later, I am by most standards, wealthy. I’m an owner of a successful, growing company, employer of a great staff of people and a husband and Father of three, trying desperately to show my mistakes to my own children, so they don’t repeat them.
Life is good.
Although there were times I thought I could use it, I never accepted one dime of welfare or public assistance along the way. To me, that was to help people trapped by circumstances, not for people like myself, who were living with their mistakes.
Yes, there are “haves” and “have-nots” in America and the world. There has been and always will be. I have been both. Adversity is a great motivator and at the right moment in life, a blessing that few recognize or heed.
When I was a “have-not”, never once did it occur to me that I should be sharing in the rewards of the more ambitious. I’ve never thought that I deserved to live like a king, while behaving like a fool. And I certainly have never thought that the people who have worked hard for and risked their fortunes should be made ashamed for reaping the benefits from their efforts. The rich have never owed me anything. I was raised knowing that, in America, we’re all responsible for our own futures. If someone becomes prosperous, good for them. After all, that is the goal, isn’t it?
If I had never tasted the sour rewards of my irresponsibility and apathy, I would never have become who I am today. If government forced the wealthy to help me live more comfortably, I would most likely have taken it for granted , squandered it, and I’d still be the drunk living in the truck stop parking lot in Minneapolis, if I were alive at all.
Some people say I owe it to America to pay her back for the opportunities given to me. Yes, I do.
I owe America for not paying me for work I didn‘t do.
For not rewarding me for talents I don‘t have.
For not heaping blessings on me for contributions I never made to society.
I owe her for being the stoic, unwavering reality of free will and showing me the way to true, respectful prosperity for myself and my family.
Did my country do me any favors for not “bailing me out” years ago? It most certainly did. Such unearned rewards would have been poison to my own future. Instead, she made me work, sacrifice and think my way to success.
America didn’t nurture me into a good citizen. She forged me into a greater man. The best way I can repay her is by forging and encouraging others by example.
There are so many in America that are swimming circles in their own little lukewarm pool of mediocrity, blaming everyone but themselves for putting them there and waiting most of their lives for someone else to come along and pull them out.
They think that somehow, it’s America’s job to lay prosperity at their feet.
I owe America and the patriots who have defended her simply for the open playing field of freedom and equality, so that a wretch like myself could pursue happiness, and find the eventual discovery that the real promise of America is not the happiness, but the pursuit itself.