I'm a little late getting something posted for Blog Action Day. This year's focus is on poverty. I thought I'd share a story.
There was this guy who grew up in a rural area in the US. Rural in the US is not necessarily poor. And poor in the US is wealthy compared to other nations. That said, this guy didn't really know he was poor. He knew his family didn't have as much stuff as other families, and his clothes and toys were usually last year's "in" stuff. But he had clothes and toys and was fairly contented with what he had.
He married way too young. To offset that, he started a family. Ok, that wasn't much of an offset. He worked odd jobs to make ends meet. He did farm labor - digging ditches, mucking stalls at the local livestock market... that sort of thing. There were still times when the fridge was almost empty, and it was never full. A couple local churches helped out. Just about the only way up and out of his situation seemed to be college or the military. College cost money, the military actually paid you, so off to the military he went.
Basic training was demanding but not all that difficult for him. He'd been raised in a relatively strict environment, so boot camp didn't shock him much at all. He made it through and returned to farm work and manual labor. Since he was in the National Guard, he had time away between boot camp and advanced training. He went to advanced training and learned electronics.
After that he was able to get a better paying job. He worked that job for a year and was able to find an even better paying one. And so it went. With two small children now, things remained tight financially.
He eventually gained enough experience and confidence - along with a degree in electronics engineering technology - to start his own business. Things went relatively well for him for about six years until the tech bubble burst at the end of the 1990's. That took out his business, and his marriage along with it. He lost almost everything except what he loaded into a pickup.
He met someone, they fell in love, and she rescued and healed him in ways he still doesn't understand. Although his first two children were young adults, the newlyweds started another family, ending with three children eventually.
Through hard work, taking some risks, luck, timing, and more hard work; he was able to work his way up beyond anything he would have been able to do - or, frankly, imagine - in his prior life.
In hindsight, he now realizes the path from the top of the hill to the top of the mountain went through the lowest valley of his life. The relative poverty he experienced for most of his life - defined as earning a wage below the poverty line in the US - was part of that path. It taught him to appreciate things and also caused him to see things differently from people who've never looked in their nearly-empty fridge. It affects him to this day. It impacts his work ethic, personal and business philosophy, religious beliefs, and the way he votes.
One interesting side note: he's not afraid of losing everything or of starting over. He's done it before and no longer fears it. He knows that there's no substitute for hard work and eyes open for opportunity.
Is he thankful for the relative poverty? No. But he appreciates the lessons learned thereby.
Whatever doesn't kill you truly makes you stronger.
:{> Andy