My father was valedictorian of his High School Senior Class but then wasn't allowed to go to college by his father. His Two brothers had the same experience but his father allowed both their sisters to go to college to meet a "College Guy" to marry and this worked for one of them even though they both married and both had children too.
In my own case I was allowed to study "Anything I wanted to" which is it's own kind of problem where I was confused at what I wanted to do in life mostly. However, I had a rich friend who encouraged me to go to college and my cousin who went to USC on a scholarship and NYU law school on a scholarship and became a lawyer with his own business in the Los Angeles area ongoing.
Though I went to college I started at a community college and majored in what was then called "Computer Data Processing" which basically was geared towards getting a job in the business computer sector which I did by age 20 years old and then I could afford a brand new car which was a 1968 Camaro. I had wanted to get a used Porsche but realized I was too tall to be comfortable in a Porsche convertible but I fit into Mustang Fastback or a Camaro which is the one I finally chose.
I remember people saying at a church Conclave that I shouldn't go to college because I would become a "Pinko" which means sort of like a liberal or a communist to the thinking of Church going people then or now.
However, my cousin and my rich friend and others won out and I became a college student. However, I was confused by a Social Science Class I took because it taught Darwin's theory and I realize now looking back I had been trained to be a Creationist in my thinking.
So, it took me about 3 years to invalidate both Creationist theory as well as Darwin's theory. I realized that I didn't have to buy into either of these theories really. I just had to find a way to survive to 25 or 30 years of age instead.
So, going to college and being in that frame of mind completely changed my life and moved me forward in how I thought about everything. Then taking Philosophy and Psychology classes when I was around 21 actually saved my life because I began to think differently about everything and this took me away from a prideful way of functioning which was like my Dad.
Instead I became a consummate Survivor in my thinking. I realized trying to be like my Dad's workaholic way of thinking I was going to be dead by 25 years of age. So, a reworked my whole personality to where I actually could physically survive my life and not just want to be dead all the time.
This moved me forward to a life I could stand to live by ages 25 to 30 and my life became bearable enough to go on living without self destructing.
And I was happy by about 30 to 32 years of age. I started to learn to be happy as a single father at age 29 and got more and more happy when I remarried at 32 and was happy until my father died when I was 37. Then I wasn't very happy until I almost died myself at age 50 and had to retire to stay alive.
But, from about 50 on after almost dying has likely been the happiest time of my life being a father to my children and a grandfather now as well.
By God's Grace
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