I know . . . I know . . . I promised you my crazy 10 day story. But it’s sort of personal, so I will send it in my Weekly Email Update. I am keeping personal information more secretive lately.
Yesterday after work I was leaving Walgreens. A man was sitting on the curb and as I passed him he looked at me and asked for a dollar. Normally I tend to avoid these conversations. As you know I do have a bit of a temper at times and I try to avoid situations where it could possibly flair up. But yesterday I was in a more cantankerous mood. So I engaged in a conversation.
I told the man that I would give him no money, but I would do him a favor. I told him where my office was located and told him that if he came by today I would do my best to find him a job. His response was that he didn’t want a job, he needed some money. Now in my world the concepts of want and need are related, but obviously in his world they are not. So I asked for an explanation. His response was that I was not him so I should either give him a dollar or move on.
So I tried to explain my perspective to him. I explained that I WANTED a billion dollars, but I needed five dollars to get a burger. In my world I find a resource to get me the things I need first. Then, only after my needs are met do I venture into attempting to collect the things that I want.
My resources could be to ask for what I need. But if I do that then when I need something else I will have to ask again, and again. Eventually this resource will dry up and end. My resource could be to just take what I need, lawfully or unlawfully. But if I do that then eventually I will get hurt or end up spending some quality time in a local correctional facility.
The most effective way for me to get the resources I need is to trade for them. I will mow your yard, do your taxes, help you move, or offer my services to pleasure you. Whatever we choose to agree upon creates an agreement. These could continue for a long time as you will probably always need to have your yard mowed. It is a perpetuating system.
The guy gazed at me with a blank stare.
He then said he was in a predicament that he didn’t choose. Again, I was confused and questioned him as to his comment. He said he didn’t choose to be in the position he was in. I immediately disagreed with him, stressing my motto that EVERYONE AT ANY GIVEN TIME IS RIGHT WHERE THEY CHOOSE TO BE.
He chose to sit down on that particular curb. He could have walked to my office to apply for a job, but he chose not to do that. He chose to ask me for money. He could have offered to wash my car in exchange for five dollars, but he chose not to do that.
Life is about choices, and there is always another choice. Life is about trading, and there is always something you can trade for what you need. Each of us controls EVERYTHING in our own little worlds. We decide what we do, when we do it and with whom we do it. These individual choices culminate in defining the type of person we are.
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