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Why do veterans fail?... and other things
11 years ago
General
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I recently read a journal from someone I used to be in regular contact with years ago. We spent a lot of time chatting when we were both in the military, but we drifted away once he left the navy. I understand why that happened, hell, I basically did the same once I left the army. In his journal, he mentioned how things haven't been going well and that he has only known failure lately while sunk down into a pit of depression. This made me think about other veterans I know and how they are struggling to get by. Why am I thriving where others have failed? The following is my experiences and an address to a general audience that is targeted at no one in particular.
When I first left the army in 2006 I was on a similar path of failure. I didn't have any useful skills, so I basically had to start at the bottom of the work ladder. My lifestyle at the time relied heavily on an automobile to get me around. Most of my money was going into car payments and gasoline. The work I did manage to find payed around $9/hour with shitty coworkers, I fucking hated it. I was in the National Guard at this point and jumped at the opportunity to get on Operation Jump Start, a state mission on the boarder. My finances were built back up and I felt like I was set up to prosper, but I still had no valuable skills. I had moved to Colorado with the idea that I would work a construction job operating heavy machinery. I quickly realized how little the industry thought about military qualifications. My experiences meant absolutely dick to these people. I also made the mistake of living 35 miles away from the nearest town (Fort Collins), this meant that I was living paycheck to paycheck with no additional funds for anything. For the first time in my life, I was unable to pay my bills and went into crippling debt. My roommates at the time where horrible with money and priorities, they bought soap instead of food thinking that they would be able to sell erotic soap.
I went back into the army in 2008, paid off my debt, and tried to save up as much as I could. It worked very well until I got back from Korea. Once again I was heavily reliant on my Jeep to get me around. I stayed on top of my bills, but I was still spending more than what I was making. The deployment to Afghanistan helped me rebuild my finances, which is still partially carrying me today. When I got my MedBoard I was given a lump sum that helped me get through all of 2013 and 2014. I still have a decent amount saved up, which I am hoping will be used for a down payment on a condo.
What is different about how I live now? I live in a city within a mile of a mass transit rail line. I walk most of the time and rarely drive. I haven't calculated the numbers yet, but I think my fuel consumption is less than 9 gallons per month, compared to 16 gallons per week when I drove my Jeep daily. I don't eat out that much anymore. In the past I would eat out all the time, the average cost was about $10 per meal. Now that I cook for myself that same $10 can feed me and my husband with enough food left over for two or three meals. I bought LED lightbulbs for areas that we illuminate most often. They have already paid for themselves, but I still get on my husband for leaving them on (he has that bad american habit of being wasteful). Exercising regularly has also been a great help to me. I am in the best shape of my life and I plan on pushing my limits further. The added benefit is that everything that requires physical effort is so much easier to do. While other complain about walking half a mile I find joy in walking ten times that distance. It is invigorating to get the blood flowing while moving through a landscape. I think it is pretty sad that people choose to sit in a car and drive past all of the amazing things around them just so they can continue to be lazy.
My attitude about education has been radically shifted since I first got out of the army as well. I used to desire the bare minimum and not want to put effort into subjects I thought were useless such as English Composition. Now I try to learn as much as I can about every subject I take, even if it is just an elective class. My life experiences have become so much more rich as a result, ie the music class I took gave me a better appreciation for various genres. I want to soak up as much as I can and my teachers see that which encourages them to put more effort into teaching me.
When it comes down to it, the thing that will make or break you is your attitude. Benefits mean nothing if you don't have the drive to exploit them to the fullest. Doing the bare minimum will only return the bare minimum. If you want people to help you then you have to show them that you are worth the time and effort. If your focus is to only make more money then your future is going to suck. Sure, you might be financially secure, but you'd likely be working in a field that you don't particularly enjoy. Money is the key to happiness up until it pulls you out of poverty. After that it does not matter if you make $50,000/year or $1 million/year. I'd rather have a job that I love which pays $50,000 annually rather than a job I hate that pays $100,000 annually.
In other news, I think I might completely rebuild my profile here. There is so much of it that is pretty outdated. I have finally got around to making a FurBuy account and will eventually get around to selling my suit. Has anyone used that site for selling or buying? What was your experience? I my also either redesign my character or just make a new one. I may go with the latter seeing as how my view of the world has changed so much since I've created the character. I still have an idea for a unique character, which is going to be a long time before I get started on it mostly due to lack of space and money.
My job starts in six days, expect me to get pretty ghost when that happens, especially when the spring semester starts.
When I first left the army in 2006 I was on a similar path of failure. I didn't have any useful skills, so I basically had to start at the bottom of the work ladder. My lifestyle at the time relied heavily on an automobile to get me around. Most of my money was going into car payments and gasoline. The work I did manage to find payed around $9/hour with shitty coworkers, I fucking hated it. I was in the National Guard at this point and jumped at the opportunity to get on Operation Jump Start, a state mission on the boarder. My finances were built back up and I felt like I was set up to prosper, but I still had no valuable skills. I had moved to Colorado with the idea that I would work a construction job operating heavy machinery. I quickly realized how little the industry thought about military qualifications. My experiences meant absolutely dick to these people. I also made the mistake of living 35 miles away from the nearest town (Fort Collins), this meant that I was living paycheck to paycheck with no additional funds for anything. For the first time in my life, I was unable to pay my bills and went into crippling debt. My roommates at the time where horrible with money and priorities, they bought soap instead of food thinking that they would be able to sell erotic soap.
I went back into the army in 2008, paid off my debt, and tried to save up as much as I could. It worked very well until I got back from Korea. Once again I was heavily reliant on my Jeep to get me around. I stayed on top of my bills, but I was still spending more than what I was making. The deployment to Afghanistan helped me rebuild my finances, which is still partially carrying me today. When I got my MedBoard I was given a lump sum that helped me get through all of 2013 and 2014. I still have a decent amount saved up, which I am hoping will be used for a down payment on a condo.
What is different about how I live now? I live in a city within a mile of a mass transit rail line. I walk most of the time and rarely drive. I haven't calculated the numbers yet, but I think my fuel consumption is less than 9 gallons per month, compared to 16 gallons per week when I drove my Jeep daily. I don't eat out that much anymore. In the past I would eat out all the time, the average cost was about $10 per meal. Now that I cook for myself that same $10 can feed me and my husband with enough food left over for two or three meals. I bought LED lightbulbs for areas that we illuminate most often. They have already paid for themselves, but I still get on my husband for leaving them on (he has that bad american habit of being wasteful). Exercising regularly has also been a great help to me. I am in the best shape of my life and I plan on pushing my limits further. The added benefit is that everything that requires physical effort is so much easier to do. While other complain about walking half a mile I find joy in walking ten times that distance. It is invigorating to get the blood flowing while moving through a landscape. I think it is pretty sad that people choose to sit in a car and drive past all of the amazing things around them just so they can continue to be lazy.
My attitude about education has been radically shifted since I first got out of the army as well. I used to desire the bare minimum and not want to put effort into subjects I thought were useless such as English Composition. Now I try to learn as much as I can about every subject I take, even if it is just an elective class. My life experiences have become so much more rich as a result, ie the music class I took gave me a better appreciation for various genres. I want to soak up as much as I can and my teachers see that which encourages them to put more effort into teaching me.
When it comes down to it, the thing that will make or break you is your attitude. Benefits mean nothing if you don't have the drive to exploit them to the fullest. Doing the bare minimum will only return the bare minimum. If you want people to help you then you have to show them that you are worth the time and effort. If your focus is to only make more money then your future is going to suck. Sure, you might be financially secure, but you'd likely be working in a field that you don't particularly enjoy. Money is the key to happiness up until it pulls you out of poverty. After that it does not matter if you make $50,000/year or $1 million/year. I'd rather have a job that I love which pays $50,000 annually rather than a job I hate that pays $100,000 annually.
In other news, I think I might completely rebuild my profile here. There is so much of it that is pretty outdated. I have finally got around to making a FurBuy account and will eventually get around to selling my suit. Has anyone used that site for selling or buying? What was your experience? I my also either redesign my character or just make a new one. I may go with the latter seeing as how my view of the world has changed so much since I've created the character. I still have an idea for a unique character, which is going to be a long time before I get started on it mostly due to lack of space and money.
My job starts in six days, expect me to get pretty ghost when that happens, especially when the spring semester starts.
I want to eventually purchase some land and build a home, but that won't be easy on a single income. Not impossible, but not easy. As long as I can have a house and a small parcel of land and still manage to live comfortably, I'll be just fine. I don't need all the money in the world to do that, heh.
Buying land and building a house sounds pretty expensive, and the lifestyle would require a sizeable income level just to maintain. If you're willing to put up with all of that then more power to you.
Building a house is several years out at the soonest, but as long as I can do it comfortably I'll be happy. I'm just far too hemmed in by people where I'm at right now, and that's in my own house. It'll also allow me to build a far more efficient place, as I'm really looking into more modern construction with better windows, more insulation, and most likely solar power to augment what I use on the grid. :)