Of all the reading about historical events and people I have done, the only person I can think of that was a late bloomer was Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant; of the present it would be JK Rowling. Both of them went through hardships in a good portion of their live. The Grant biography I read detailed how he had initially been in the U.S Army, but because he missed his family so much, he got into trouble for being drunk, and rather than have a mark on his record, tendered his resignation. In his time out of the Army, his family got so poor to the point where they could not even buy new shoes and was working with slaves in the field. He ended up having to go to his father for a loan and, shortly before the outbreak of the War, got another job, working it up until hostilities between the States began. He was able to reenter the U.S Army, and from then on, would eventually become a hero of his time, his reputation only being stained again by his second Presidential administration, and his personal memoirs pulled him out of debts he made from a bad investment.
JK Rowling went through something along similar lines, having been in an abusive relationship as well as debts of her own. According to IMDB, she started writing Harry Potter in order to pay off those debts, and now she is one of the wealthiest women in the world. I do not know that much about her hardships, or even if there is that much to know, but like Grant, she pulled through, and both might been about the same age when they did.
I can see myself in both of their shoes, especially with how my life is not where I want it to be either. Four years ago, soon to be five, my family was moving out of a house we lived in for over twenty years, but the move was so poorly planned that I believe to this day that we damned ourselves in doing so. We live now in a small college town with barely any opportunity in the immediate area, and most things are 20-40 miles away. The house itself is nothing like what I wanted to live in and is actually smaller than our old house, with many of the things I own still being in boxes because I have no place to put any of it. I never learned to drive due to our involvement in car accidents and the way people tend to drive on the road, so I have to be driven by someone, which is something I want to remedy one day. I have ideas for short stories and philosophical books I want to write, and I took a creative writing class at the local University to help myself out of writer's block, but thus far have been waiting for a good time to concentrate so I can focus on the work I have planned.
I have one short story started that I have barely begun but hope to finish before the conclusion of next year if I can. I remember talking to the wife of my dad's friend once about Rowling finding her place when she did, and thinking in general of how people slumped in the dirt can suddenly pull themselves up, brush themselves off, and go on to become great people gives me hope that I can join their ranks. I am not a middle-aged man, but while I am in my 30s, I do want to get somewhere in my life, move out of my current house, and live in the place where I actually want to live, wherever that may be. For a long time now I have been feeling stressed and unhappy, and I do not have the sense of peace video games give me because I have not played them in a while; this is primarily due to the state of my computer which I do not have the money to replace, and I can only use it for basic purposes; this in itself can be a simile to how I feel.
As the next decade of my life begins next year, I hope to be able to get my life in order and try to be happier with things. Assuming I can find the concentration to dive into the work I want to do, only time will tell at what point in the next decade I will be where I want.
I figured I would write about all of this because it has been on my mind as much as it has, but I am glad to know that I have not been the only one in this kind of position in life, and that those who have been in it before me are now historic or well known figures today.
JK Rowling went through something along similar lines, having been in an abusive relationship as well as debts of her own. According to IMDB, she started writing Harry Potter in order to pay off those debts, and now she is one of the wealthiest women in the world. I do not know that much about her hardships, or even if there is that much to know, but like Grant, she pulled through, and both might been about the same age when they did.
I can see myself in both of their shoes, especially with how my life is not where I want it to be either. Four years ago, soon to be five, my family was moving out of a house we lived in for over twenty years, but the move was so poorly planned that I believe to this day that we damned ourselves in doing so. We live now in a small college town with barely any opportunity in the immediate area, and most things are 20-40 miles away. The house itself is nothing like what I wanted to live in and is actually smaller than our old house, with many of the things I own still being in boxes because I have no place to put any of it. I never learned to drive due to our involvement in car accidents and the way people tend to drive on the road, so I have to be driven by someone, which is something I want to remedy one day. I have ideas for short stories and philosophical books I want to write, and I took a creative writing class at the local University to help myself out of writer's block, but thus far have been waiting for a good time to concentrate so I can focus on the work I have planned.
I have one short story started that I have barely begun but hope to finish before the conclusion of next year if I can. I remember talking to the wife of my dad's friend once about Rowling finding her place when she did, and thinking in general of how people slumped in the dirt can suddenly pull themselves up, brush themselves off, and go on to become great people gives me hope that I can join their ranks. I am not a middle-aged man, but while I am in my 30s, I do want to get somewhere in my life, move out of my current house, and live in the place where I actually want to live, wherever that may be. For a long time now I have been feeling stressed and unhappy, and I do not have the sense of peace video games give me because I have not played them in a while; this is primarily due to the state of my computer which I do not have the money to replace, and I can only use it for basic purposes; this in itself can be a simile to how I feel.
As the next decade of my life begins next year, I hope to be able to get my life in order and try to be happier with things. Assuming I can find the concentration to dive into the work I want to do, only time will tell at what point in the next decade I will be where I want.
I figured I would write about all of this because it has been on my mind as much as it has, but I am glad to know that I have not been the only one in this kind of position in life, and that those who have been in it before me are now historic or well known figures today.