Devastating Effects of Debt

Devastating Effects of Debt

September 26, 2013

I learned that pressure from debt can be devastating !

A lot of good lessons came from the school of hard knocks. I have always, since I can remember, possessed an entrepreneurial mind. I found pleasure in creating business ideas in my mind. Most of my ideas came from avoiding hard labor. Sometimes I accused myself of being lazy.

My parents saw that interest in me when I was small and had Santa Claus bring me a set of tinker toys for Christmas one year. I spent hours with those tinker toys spread all over the floor. I created every kind of contraption you can imagine. That mindset and desire pushed me all my life. Sometimes that notion served me well and other times I may have reached too far. In all cases, I learned lessons which have served me throughout my life.

From the days of using a shovel and wheelbarrow, came ideas of inventing something to excavate the earth with. I was saved from failure by someone who first invented the backhoe. I was good with that and was glad it came along. Now my quest became to do whatever it took to get one of those machines. What a great idea!…two or three scoops with that bucket would remove more soil than digging with a shovel all day long.

My primary purpose for living became my need to own a new backhoe. You know, whatever you set your mind to do, will happen…so be careful!

Years later, I could see how my backhoe business would fit very well in the oil and gas production business. Before too long, I was the proud owner of my own roustabout company, serving the oil field industry. Everything went well. Work came knocking at our door. Tremendous expansion became our lot. We needed more backhoes, more trucks, more employees. High costs and expenses skyrocketed. A business which seemed to be the answer to all of my dreams soon became a curse of major proportions. At this station, the train stopped, the boom was over and the bust had arrived. I became a regular student at the school of hard knocks.

Life became hard and tedious. I had many bills to pay and very little work to provide a cash flow. I found that my business plan was incomplete. In my excitement to succeed, I had thrown all caution to the wind.

My new business plan called for me to sell all of my acquired equipment and pay off as much debt as possible. The deficit was staggering. I learned that pressure from debt can be devastating! I kept one backhoe, a pickup truck and I went to work. My new motivation was at least ten years away.

My next lesson was a good one and I learned it well. With an everyday reminder, I went to work and I worked from sun-up to after dark. After years of hard labor, I was able to free myself of those huge debts. Years later I look back and I remember the hurt and the hardship my family went through. In many ways it was hard and it was tough but in the end, that experience tempered my understanding and gave me the pleasure of being able to honor my commitment. It was a good day when I was able to feel free at last. That experience ended years ago, however my memory sorely remembers those struggles.

Many of those hard times prepared me for the future. My fears have vanished and I have a greater belief in my own abilities. Good things are born from our difficulties.

I enjoy writing these blogs because they help me remember and look at the map of my journey and provide me with the yardstick of my growth. The knowledge that I have acquired provide stability for my future endeavors.