PhD

It's been twenty years now since I thought that I had inexorably screwed up my life.
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Everything had gone wrong with my career, major business deals went sour, and my entire image of my life's direction took an about turn. I had a pit in my stomach that wouldn't go away and everyday I was haunted by fears of how my situation would evolve.
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Friends who had seemed to be staunch allies, now treated me cordially but at arm's length. These were people that I would have jumped on a grenade for. Fortunately for me, no grenades were rolled my way, because I found out that they would never have returned the favor. But a few true friends stood by me...and they are still my real friends today.
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Lots of really bad things happened... I lost my assets, my money and had to move. But the trials had a silver lining. I found out what was truly important to me. Big houses, boats, cars... all of the stuff became secondary. My family and my new view of myself as someone who could cope with whatever life threw at me, were the two things that held importance. Everything else was pretentious and phony.
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I'm not saying that I wasn't to blame. I made some truly stupid business decisions that would have been fine if things out of my control hadn't taken such a steep dive. But all of the stupid stuff that I did, and the risks that blew up in my face, didn't deter me from one thing. I never was out to screw anybody. And it didn't matter what anybody thought. I knew the truth. And I took a much worse hit than anyone else that was involved in my failed business deals. That simple fact ultimately protected me.
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So twenty years ago, I had the truth, and my family, a few true friends, and nothing else.
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In the end.... that's all that was important. It was all that I needed.
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Slowly, things began to change, and my worse fears never materialized. Every day, I got up and ran a play. I believed in myself and had the love of my family and thanked God for these things often.

Step by step, all of the pieces came back together again, but with a stronger and lasting bond based on truth and experience. I caught a break and entered the large corporate world, leaving entrepreneurship for awhile. Eventually, I found that my feet were firmly under me again and the pit in my stomach was replaced with a sense of knowledge and confidence that only experience can bring.
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And now, with Nanepashemet Telecom and a couple of other things, I'm back in the economic driver's seat. But with a huge advantage. I have a PhD in "What Can Go Wrong". My mistakes will never put the entire enterprise at risk, and I will never be duped again by false friends. I don't need the big boats, cars and houses. Been there, Done that.
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But if I hadn't had the loss, I still would be defining myself by my phony friends, my clubs, my boats, my houses, my cars, etc. What an asshole I would have been!
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Now that everything is behind me, I am thankful for the experience. It made me a better person, and the insights made my life more meaningful. I have a strong, hardworking family that I am proud of, and my business successes now are substantial and lasting.
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I hope you Peeps never have to go through this type of trial, but if the current economic market doesn't bode well for you, act with the truth and learn from your mistakes. Be true to yourself and run a new play everyday. You'll get through it, and ultimately you'll be better off.