On my Friday "Happenings" posts, I typically give an update to my week, but I've been fired up by a number of the views on this video, I just had to get this off my chest. For those people out there who feel all income should be distributed evenly, stop reading right now and head on out to the Huffington Post (oh, wait! The Huffington Post is part of the 1% too! Didn't realize that, did you?).
I completely understand people viewing this video as a sort of "us vs. them" mentality when it comes to earning money. But instead of being disgusted by how much money the 1% earns, the question you should be asking yourself is this: how does one become part of the 1%?
Throughout my life, I've met with or heard about people who make a ton of money. And the first question that pops up in mind is: "What do they do?" Followed closely by: "How did they do it?" I've always been fascinated by these people.
Those sitting on the side that all income should be distibuted evenly seem to be, in my opinion, jealous of other people's success and, therefore, don't want to face the fact they've lived a life of mediocrity. What they may not realize is that the difference between the 1% and the 99% can be boiled down to hard work, sacrifice, and time. That's it. You may think luck has a huge part too, but I disagree. When you work hard, sacrificing, for a long time, opportunities pop up that look like luck, when in reality you were just ready for success to come knocking at your door.
Here are examples of the 1%:
The pro football player who, instead of wasting hours upon hours of his time watching TV and playing video games, goes out and throws the football over and over and over again.
Or the pro hockey player who wakes up at 5am, just to go to the arena and shot pucks for hours.
Or the writer who, instead of joining in on the gossip over lunch, keeps writing his first novel. And second. And third. And tenth. He also skips watching TV at night, and continues writing, improving his craft.
Or the painter who dreams of what she can paint next, and doesn't waste a single minute of her day in creating a masterpiece.
Or the businessman who, fueled by a dream, gathers up a few of his friends and builds the next "big thing" in their buddy's garage.
Or the singer who goes to every open mike night she can and sings, improving each and every night, never giving up.
Or the band who plays in the dirtiest bars, living on practically nothing, but dreams of hitting it big time.
These are the 1%. Or a part of them. Are there sleazebags out there, who would screw his own mother out of her pension check just to add to their immense stockpile of cash? Or the business person who wants nothing more than to gain more and more power, no matter what kind of laws are broken? Of course. There are generous, heartful people in the 1% as well as in the 99%. I know scumbags who live in poverty too.
Instead of being jealous of the 1%, find ways of improving your own life to become a part of the higher income bracket. Quit buying things on credit. Stop spending more than you make. You can have a house without a mortgage and a car without a loan and even be a student without the dreaded student loans. Do you really need that new iPhone or the $400 pair of headphones?
Stop listening to the poltiicians and media who are dividing this country up more and more.
I'll get off my soap box now. Go do something with your life. Not tomorrow. Today. The world depends on it.
Besides, there's plenty of room for so many more of us in the 1%. We just need to have a dream and work towards it.
To recap my week in writing, I finished writing a short story. It's roughly 5500 words, and it will be this quarter's submission to Writers Of The Future. Next on the plate is editing Shadowkill and writing the first draft of the sequel to Beholder's Eye.
