Just when you think…

There’s an old phrase that goes something like:
“Just when you think things couldn’t get worse…”
Today’s reminder of that happened when I went to the bank
and found out that I had $396 in overdraft charges
on my now very below zero bank account.
TIP: don’t trust a phone call to get your account balance,
FYI: gas purchases don’t register until some crazy later time.
(Would I get in trouble if I mentioned U.S. Bank for any reason??;P)

So, that might not seem like a lot of money to you,
but to me it represented the loss of a Christmas gift,
two client’s worth of website work, and a car payoff.
What bothered & shook me the most was that to me,
the bank took away something that was given to me
by people who mean a lot to me as well as the fact
that the money was something that I had worked hard for.

Now, you know me well enough (I hope) to know that
there is no way that I am taking the time to gripe
& complain about how unfair and cruel this is.
Of course… I am still upset about it,
but that’s way better than the crushed
and devastated feelings I had earlier ~

About 15 years ago I heard a very wealthy man
jokingly say something very wise.

“No matter how bad you think you’ve got it,
there’s always somebody else who’s got it worse.”
(Thanks Bill !)

Not sure about you, but I’ve spent a lot of time and energy
lamenting about that which I do not have, have not done, etc.
“I cried because I had no shoes
Until I saw a man who had no feet.”

So, tonight I spent a few minutes looking
for people who “had it worse” than I do.

Helen Keller – deaf blind mute
Franklin D. Roosevelt – polio
Ludwig van Beethoven – deaf & asthma
Michael Bolton – deaf in one ear
Stevie Wonder – blind
Ray Charles – blind
Andrea Bocelli – blind
Elizabeth Taylor – asthma
Bob Hope – asthma
Alice Cooper – asthma
Kenny G. – asthma
Billy Joel – asthma
Liza Minelli – asthma
Peter the Great – asthma
Amy Winehouse – bipolar
Axl Rose – bipolar
Julius Caesar – epilepsy
Richard Burton – epilepsy
Isaac Newton – epilepsy, stutter
Pythagoras – epilepsy
Tchaikovsky – epilepsy
Elton John – epilepsy
Neil Young – epilepsy
Robin Williams – ADHD
Stephen Hawking – Lou Gehrigs Disease / ALS:
paralyzed & needs a computer to speak.
Thomas Edison – deafness, learning disability & diebetes
(I didn’t list the very long list of other famous people with diabetes.)

And here’s a short list of people you may recognize that
didn’t let their dyslexia dictate what they could or couldn’t do:

Agatha Christie – English mystery writer
Albert Einstein – Scientist, philosopher
Alexander Graham – Bell Inventor
Bruce Jenner – U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist
Charles Schwab – Founder of investment brokerage
Cher – Entertainer, actress
Danny Glover – Actor
George Burns – Actor, comedian
George Patton – Military General
Greg Louganis – U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist
Hans Christian Andersen – Author
Harry Anderson – Actor, magician, comedian
Harry Belafonte – Singer, actor, entertainer
Henry Ford – Inventor, humanitarian,
Henry Winkler – Actor, director, humanitarian
Jackie Stewart – Race car driver
John Corcoran – Real estate millionaire
Leonardo Da Vinci – Renaissance artist, sculptor, painter
Lindsay Wagner – Actress, author, “The Bionic Woman”
Magic Johnson – Professional athlete
Nelson Rockefeller – Former governor of New York, former U.S. vice president
Nolan Ryan – Professional athlete
Ozzy Osbourne – Rock music star
Quentin Tarantino – Film director, writer
Stephen Bacque – Entrepreneur of the Year, 1998
Thomas Edison – Inventor, scientist
Thomas H. Kean – President of Drew University, former N.J. governor
Tom Cruise – Actor
Tom Smothers – Comedian (Smothers Brothers)
Tracey Gold – Actress
Walt Disney – Cartoonist, visionary founder of Disneyland/Disneyworld
Whoopi Goldberg – Actress
William B. Yeats – Poet, dramatist, Nobel prize winner
William James – Psychologist, philosopher
Winston Churchill – Former Prime Minister of Britain
Woodrow Wilson – Former president of the United States

I had dinner tonight, and I didn’t have to stand in a food line to get it
– or worse, not have any dinner at all.
I am sitting in a comfortable residence typing:
there is shelter, heat, electricity, phone, my son is with me,
AND he has HotWheels that he got for Christmas.
How cool is that ?!!?
Tomorrow morning I will go outside and start a very reliable car (Jeep)
and go to work at a job where it does not appear that I am in
any immediate danger of losing. AND, even if I did,
I have the experience and abilities to continue working either on
my own or be hired on elsewhere at or above my current wage.
My health is outstanding,
and my sense of humor continues to be FANTASTIC.
(not a word out of the peanut gallery :p )
There is a huge connection between those two, by the way.
(health and humor)

SO… I think I’ll end my little thought of the day
by repeating a question a customer asked me today
after I had my lunchtime “visit of doom” at the bank.

“How are you doing today ?”
I looked up, looked back at him and answered:
“Well, all things considered – pretty darn good.”