Greatest and Best Good
Fresh Start Means What
What Would You Do
With Lots of Time and No Assets
Bankruptcy Can Be Spun for the Best
Seems the same for just about any time in my life
I might have one of the two necessary resources
That would be either money or time but not both
It sure is tough putting those two things together
Getting one or the other is not that difficult
Getting both at same time - might be the challenge of a lifetime
Many of us will never effectively master this awkward challenge
Being in a bankruptcy situation would hopefully present
Not just a lack of money but an abundance of time
Financial insolvency for me was coupled with an invitation
To do a lot of logistics and unskilled labor
For older family members
With pensions & security
What I did to survive without money
Did not require me to compromise
My own integrity - thankfully
For me this all happened by the time I was 30
That was over twenty years ago
What I sacrificed was my basic standing as young unmarried man
Any time that might have been invested into creating a family
Or building a loving & trusting intimacy partnership just then
All of that was given away
For what was behind
Door number three
Unemployed men are not legitimate to the women I knew
I became a phantom of a man for that - financially absent
It wasn't terrible
Every shortcoming on one level
Can be an opportunity on another
My 20s were a very busy and stressed out era - I was glad for the time off
Moving in with my grandfather after his wife's passing was not terrible
I had plenty of basement space plus I got to live with my grandfather
It was during the golden twilight of his own life - we had fun
It wasn't exactly a caregiving situation
As he was quite healthy in his own way
He was a gentle and compassionate man
He loved his dogs and his crossword puzzles
He loved his beautiful home and feeding all the birds
My grandfather fed all the kids and wildlife who visited our yard in Upper Michigan
To that end I was just another of the many welcome critters and creatures
Many humans and other types of animals are those he fed and nurtured
The difference with me was that I ran out for groceries
Also I did all the dishes and took out all the garbage
A bright lad I also substituted for missing members
Of his precious and even prestigious bridge circle
I joined him at family dinners and laughed at his repeat jokes
Many but not all of this stories were delightfully rich and witty
The family support scene grew to include my mother and brother
As well as their cats, a small town rock band and many of their groupies
One man's trash is another man's treasure
What I needed was time and they all had it
There wasn't much business opportunity in the town
Or perhaps it was there and I didn't know how to find it
I used the contacts I'd made in Silicon Valley and found a lame job
It was successful to point - with a boss who was a crazy megalomaniac
At that time I started a role that later became the bedrock of my experience
I worked as a Salesforce.com administrator in the field of Lead Generation
I'd never have weathered the transition without that base of family support
One thing about our society - there are labor gaps with known opportunities
If you're a good athlete and if you can effectively work with kids and students
If you've got time & skills - there's a good chance a sports teams needs you
Of course you have to be good with scheduling, sports, kids, plus have time
In my case this was true for the game of volleyball
Which is the club-sport I played at University level
For Michigan State University just ten years prior
It was a great idea for me
I ran the girls volleyball program
For the small private school in town
I coached that team for four consecutive years
It helped me see myself in an important position of authority
The team - we were successful to a point - always at odds
With the fact that - we were one-tenth the size of the other schools
The schools that dominated our conference and that our town were so big
Meanwhile we had no meaningful feeder programs to start early - no way to compete
My work was cut out for me - our problems were endless
Everyone I coached had never meaningfully played before
Everyone I coached, had never played organized volleyball
Imagine hiring a doctor who had never been to medical school
It's a good thing no one was harmed by our sad sporting attempts
To be successful in this type of role - as a head athletics coach
Meant that I had to take on - every single aspect of the game
I'm not exaggerating at all when I say
We had kids who had never thrown a ball
Much less served a volleyball - over the net
They couldn't serve, throw or kick it in the painted lines on the far court
For a jobless yet healthy person, this was a great place to start again in life
During those four years a lot of my inner beliefs were consolidated
I started saying, "In a successful life you might have two jobs"
That would be one for money & one uncorrupted by money"
In volleyball coaching - I worked beyond concepts of money
That second job for me - was a hearty, robust experience coaching volleyball
So began my second job - which stayed with me for years and years beyond
I ended up coaching volleyball for not one but sixteen [16] full seasons
I was head coach of team and program in all but one of those seasons
It's incredible to me that I can't remember the names of them all
My coaching claim is
"I have taught the game of volleyball"
".. to over 250 high school girl athletes"
I'm very proud of that personal accomplishment
It was very confusing during the earlier years
During that experience I ended up receiving
Five different athletic coaching certifications
I'm not exaggerating when I truthfully say
Each was more meaningful than previous
My father did not see athletic proficiency as a valid thing
Nor did he imagine professionally fostering it in others
Was anything but a road to nothing that matters
As I looked at his body - his nutrition habits - during his end of days
I painfully realized - he was the one being short sighted
With his refusal to acknowledge the gift of a body
He did not see his body as his soul's mate
There are successful coaches out there
I am one of them - in my own way
All the types of coaching I've done - starting with volleyball and continuing
To all the elementary activities my son did during and before grade school
All of that and all of my life's sports are recreational play
All of those things primed me to coach myself at age 50
All the chat with bright elderly people in the gym spa
Me - with no money and a ruined credit rating
Yet with an abundance of time - it's a little bit like being in prison
If you've ever seen incarcerated people they can be quite muscular
What's interesting - lots of those people get that way - in a very small space
I've never been arrested or put in jail
But having no money limits all of our options
Having a lot of money would certainly be better
That's just not the case for all of us in all of our times
With no money or tons of money - our goal should be same
I personally think that our body is our soul's mate
Our body should be the top of our priorities
That's why I'm so feisty about things
That's why I need you at the choppa