Tuesday, February 3, 2009

An Accidental Sellout

Being aware can be a real son of a bitch. I often camouflage my life with lots of bullshit, I think most people do. We write blogs, watch T.V. Study a few subjects so that we can be knowledgeable about a couple of things. In the end though, I think we all tend to gloss over a whole bunch of shit and lie to ourselves about pretty much everything.
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I know some stuff about handling Insurance claims. I make a decent living doing that. Other people know stuff about real estate, or accounting, or computers and technology, or getting naked and dancing around poles.
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Then lots of people, or at least most people, also have stuff that they do just because they enjoy it. I know dudes that are really into photography, music, art, automobiles etc.
Myself, I enjoy reading and writing, also, football fascinates me, so I study the game on multiple levels. The history, the strategy, the players. All of it. I think about it in terms of our society and watch how it influences our culture, our work ethic. Seriously, I could write multiple posts and go into some real minutia about it, but in the end, its just something I do with my free time because it brings me joy.
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Everything has layers of depth to it, from managing a claims organization to the nuance of generally accepted accounting principles. A professional Golfer that I once talked with, told me about how he doesn't just hit a golf ball, he hits an area of the golf ball and he does it with different types of swings, depending on how he wants the ball to fly. He spoke to me about it with a reverence and a clarity, that although I appreciated what he was saying on a superficial level, I still know that the words he was using and the knowledge he had about it did not translate 100 percent, because I don't have the background to completely understand what the hell he was trying to get across, other then what he was saying on the surface. Me, I am glad when I break a hundred and also when I hit the damn thing and it just goes far and straight.
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So in the end had I not worried about making money and just followed my passion Maybe I could have been a sportswriter specializing in writing about the game of football. Maybe I would have sucked, and never made the kind of dollars I make now doing this other thing I do, but maybe I would have had this amazing life. I will never know because now its to late and I have to many other problems that rule out just jumping out and going in a different direction. I am broke enough as it is and I make good money. Being even broker is just not an option .
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I bring this up because I was talking with an acquaintance who does know a thing or two about football. He is a coach and has been for the past few years. before that he played the game at the highest levels of the sport, and now he is going to quit because he can make more money doing other things. When he told me all this, I wanted to scream at him to just do what he loves and the money will come. Advice I did not give, because coming from me it would be completely hypocritical I sold out, but I did it without even knowing I was, until after it had already happened.
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6 comments:

Native Minnow said...

I followed my passion too. It's probably going to screw me in the end. Considering that just about every campus across the nation has a hiring freeze just in time for me to graduate. Stupid passion.

compulsively yours...for now said...

minnow-Yeah no shit, you should of been a doctor, then when I mooched off you I would get so much more and when I drove your car I could drive a benz.


You can still change your mind.

Bill From Gainesville said...

Minnow -- pretty sure it will all work out for you, stick to your guns and do what you love
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CYFN --- For your sake, hope Minnow changes his mind and does the whole "become a doctor" thing. Biology is supposed to be some kind of training ground for all that anyways. damn selfish ass Minnow...

compulsively yours...for now said...

Yeah, when I signed on he was gonna be a dr. and now look, a freaking scientist....lame-o!

I know he is gonna discover some weird fish dna crazy shit that will make him loads of money and then I can mooch some more. Please god please...

OR-I could just move into the playboy mansion and date Hef. He is the man, wealthy and totally willing to let crazy-big chested and dim witted women mooch off him. My kind of guy.

Native Minnow said...

I'm becoming a doctor. Just not the useful kind that's going to be incredibly wealthy.

quin browne said...

i followed my dream, and i do drive a benz.


stranger things...