Use the hand you're dealt

Life a game of cards!

A friend of mine gave me the idea to write about how sometimes we get despondent because of the hands we are dealt in life, for example not being as rich as Paris Hilton or as handsome as Brad Pitt.

I thought this was a particularly pressing subject. I often hear people complaining about how they are so poor and how girls and boys do like them. I would be lying if I said I have never thought this myself. Not coming from a particularly wealthy family used to get me down at times especially when I was younger. When I was growing up my family was dirt poor, I remember how my parents struggled to manage their money. This used to depress me when my friends had things that I knew I was never going to have.

Hind sight is a wonderful thing however, I now realise that I didn’t need the full Ninja Turtle set, or the latest Nintendo games. In actual fact all I was trying to do when I was younger was the mini version of keeping up with the Joneses.

Now that was a long time ago and this is now. I’m a little older and wiser, and although I think it’s safe to say that I still like nice things. I continue to ask myself this question... Where is the line between having nice things and competing in an endless race that has no prizes except a big credit history and looming debt?
When we were young the fact that we didn’t have much money was out of our control. Now we’re older and our destiny is our own. If you are unhappy what are you doing to change that?

Complaining achieves nothing. I was recently in a situation where I was not content with my life; things didn’t seem to be going my way. I had only two choices, one was to complain about it and do nothing or I could change something. So I did. I’m not going to dwell on my changes or the effects that they had on me but rather talk about how we have a choice.

When I was younger I used to watch a kids program which had the slogan “knowledge is power”. The more I think about it, the more relevant it is. Recently, I was in fear of losing my job. It was more hypochondria than anything else, but it made me realise that thanks to the amalgamation of knowledge and the contacts that I have made over the years, I could probably start my own business and survive. In other words with the skills I have gained and knowledge I have acquired I have empowered myself.

In other words don’t just complain about the hand you’ve dealt, make changes and take opportunities. If you are a cleaner and you’re content with being a cleaner then you’re an achiever but if you’re a cleaner and you constantly wish to be something better and you are doing nothing about it, then you are not enabling yourself for change and you will live an unhappy life.