In many ways I got lucky throughout my life.
I was lucky to have the parents I have. They always understood the power of education and have invested all they could at the time in our education. I first wanted to have computer classes when I was 7 or 8 and they agreed to put the little spare money we had into the classes. I was lucky for them to allow me to work part time at the age of 14 for a local programming shop. I was lucky that they taught me the value of work and gave me the freedom to move out of their place when I was 17 to live in another state to work full-time there.
I was lucky for my brother and the relationship we built. When we were kids, we used to fight all the time, it was so much fighting that I thought we would never be friends. In some way, all this fighting turned into a strong bond of love, friendship, and comradery.
I was lucky to be allowed to work full time and go to high school at night, meaning that I met my sweetheart to whom I am married and now we share a family.
I was lucky to have great friends as my first flat mates, to have had the experiences we had, to be able to trust the people around me in moments when their support and guidance were needed.
I was lucky that I worked with people who allowed me to follow in their footsteps, that guided me around the pitfalls of fast paced work environments and the high stakes of the projects we worked on, and even when I failed, they helped me fix whatever got broken.
I was lucky because when the opportunity to study abroad via a scholarship arrived, my slow pace through college meant that I had completed a little less than 70% of my degree and the limit was 70%. I was lucky to be chosen by Baruch College to study in the USA.
I was lucky to have made friends at all the places I have been. Friends that I carry with me, in my heart, friends from all walks of life that taught me a lot about the world.
I was lucky to have had the opportunity to work from home ever since I had kids, so that I could help my family a lot more, to be able to see the first steps of my older son, to be able to play with the kids every day.
I also have worked. And I worked a lot. Countless unpaid after hours, sometimes until dawn was at the door. I spend a lot of time studying, reading, and bashing my head at the keyboard.
But, boy, I am lucky.
This post was inspired by this episode of the podcast No Stupid Questions.