Solving problems while they are only molehills before they become insurmountable mountains

 Though I was always taught to be very practical always because of being from pioneer stock which originally came to the U.S. to Philadelphia in a ship up the river there in 1725 or thereabouts. 6 brothers came through England from Zurich, Switzerland then and now my relatives have spread out all over the U.S. since then. My relatives mostly now live in Seattle and California and one of my kids and his family live in Oregon now too.

The point is here that with all the practicality I was raised with I wanted to be more of an idealist in my life like many young people do. But, what I realized in my early 20s was that if you didn't take care of important things first then often they become insurmountable over time. So now, 55 years after being 20 I can see how where I was starting out wasn't going to work (especially when you are over 30 years of age). So, what works at 20 often doesn't work at 25 or 30.

So, what I learned is to always be very very adaptable while always trying to own my own businesses and take care of my wife and children.

One of the best things that ever happened to me was for my girlfriend to get pregnant so we had to get married. This forced me to really grow up at age 25 and 26. She was only 21 and I was 25 when she got pregnant and I was in college studying to become a psychologist at the time. But, I had already learned how to be an Electrician (building homes) and how to be a computer programmer in College. So, I already had two or more trades even before I was learning how to be a psychologist to help people.

But, the important thing here is that if you don't take care of problems when they first arise in life, soon you cannot solve these problems at all. And often people who are homeless never learned how to "take care of business" and were crushed by one thing or another in their lives. 

The hardest thing to deal with for me since I dated a lot of girls back then from 15 to 25 years of age was having a broken heart when for one reason or another something didn't work out long term, especially because it was expected of responsible people to be married by 18 to 25 then in the 1960s still and to have a family.

So, when for one reason or another things didn't work out long term I was despondent in my life before age 25. But then, when my live in girlfriend got pregnant at age 21 when I was 25 I had to "Step up to the plate" which was very very good for me because I was such a risk taker (surfing, skiing, riding off road motorcycles, rock climbing in Yosemite or other places where you can rock climb, body surfing, boogieboarding, Scuba Diving etc. etc. etc.

So, one of the first things I gave up (so I could be alive to raise my children) was rock climbing with thousands of feet of exposure. (Even though if you only fall 100 feet you are just as dead as 1000 or 2000 feet).

So, the first problem I had to solve was how to stay alive so I could raise my children. And giving up rock climbing seemed to make the most sense to me at the time. The other thing I gave up was Scuba Diving because of the risks. Snorkeling though, even at 75 I still do in places like Maui and Kauai in Hawaii, even though I can't really wear a wet suit anymore because it is too tight for my heart to deal with. So, I've often thought of buying a dry suit because that might work even though they are pretty expensive. But then, you need a buddy if you are going into the water so you don't drown too.

So, learning the old college try which helps you to solve yours problem before they harm or kill you when they go from molehills to mountains often is a matter of life or death at each and every point in life.

But, of course you have to believe that you can solve your problems or you can't and then often you are dead or worse.

So, going to college (or just learning how to solve your problems one by one) is necessary for people to survive to 30 to begin with.

I found once I reached about 30 that life started to make more sense to me than before and I found myself actually happen from about 30 to 37 when my father passed away. Then the next 13 years were difficult for me because I hadn't ever prepared to lose my father because I sort of believed he was going to live forever and likely outlive me. But, truth is often stranger than fiction in life too as you have or will see.