I love success stories. I would like to hear about how you started a business that became a success, or how you started with nothing and became comfortable due to hard work, or how you started with nothing and worked two jobs while investing your money and today are financially independent. Nothing like a success story to lift your spirits and also show the young posters on the Forum that this country still offers unlimited opportunities. I'll go first and try to keep it simple . . . . My dad was a welder in a small town, my mom worked of and on at a laundry or a bakery, and there were three kids in the family. Dad was a heavy drinker, albeit, a hard worker, but just made a living. When Dad died at 60 I paid for part of his funeral. I mention this to show there was no inheritance given me. As a young lad I remember when we didn't have a radio, no TV, no refrigerator, and no car. I also remember going to bed hungry a few times. We rented apartments in the city so Dad could walk to work. Sometimes we would rent a 2-bedroom, one-bath house, some houses had no heat. My clothes were hand-me-downs from my older brother, and I went to school embarrassed at how my clothes fit. At 13 Dad bought me a used bicycle and the next year I had a morning paper route. Since that time I was never out of work for more than a week until the day I retired at the age of 55, financially independent. I graduated high school, served in the Navy for a hitch and later became a printer. At the age of 21 I was working for minimum wage. Many times I worked two jobs and slowly saved and invested my money over the years. I married, had one son, and my wife was a beautician. We bought our own home started paying cash for new cars and other things and kept up with the goal of systematic saving, investing, and staying out of debt. It really wasn't that hard, but it did take discipline.
I was a bit of a terrible kid. Got into trouble a few times with the police, got into glue sniffing and made my girlfriend pregnant when i was 15. Was kicked out of school for bad behaviour about the same time. I married my girlfriend and we had another child. I joined the army aged 16 and a few years later had to come out after my wife became seriously ill. We had some problems and it culminated in us all being homeless. My wife and kids were ok as the local government put them in a range of temp accomodation. But lots of it wouldnt have a man there, so i was on the streets - just like the bloke you walk past. One day a mate took me for a couple of beers and i met a bloke in the pub and got chatting. I, along with my teachers had always thought i was stupid. This guy didnt and thought i was dyslexic and persauded me to go to his office at the local university for a test. I did the next day and sure enough he was right. He persauded me to go back to education as a mature student and they would help me learn to read and write via specialist tutoring for dyslexia. Well, to cut a long story short, here i am as the Senior Geoscientist for an international mining company. I swapped a shop doorway in an industrial town in the north of England for a great house opposite the beach and indian ocean in Australia and i fly around the world at the pointy end of the plane and have to say life is pretty good. As an afterlog though, i am thinking about stopping what i do and follow a dream of opening a business in the high end food industry with a friend who is, like me, passionate about food. I actually developed my passion for it while homeless all them years ago and havent a clue why. But, i am not getting any younger and think having a pop at another dream is well worth it.
Thanks verystormy. Your story tells of a person starting in the gutter yet being able to make a success of himself over time. True you had a helping hand in the beginning but I can read between the lines and see you had to put in a lot of hard work. Thanks for sharing and inspiring.
