The Burden of Men

It’s been awhile friends. I don’t suspect there are that many people that regularly check this blog other than my family, and my family is well aware of the what’s been happening since my last entry. But it does have a name; The Burden of Men. Sounds more like a title of a book. Maybe instead of a blog I should write a book.

I guess the biggest news is that I changed jobs. Breaking down reluctant people on the phone seems to be my lot in life. At least this time around they are less reluctant, more interested and better prepared for “the pitch”. It makes my life a lot easier and the days go faster. The happy part of thehappyrick.com is coming back. The purpose for work is finally being fulfilled …making money. We would all like to be doing something that fulfills our nature but the fact of the matter is 99% don’t live in that Utopia yet, so we simply work for money. I’m finally making money so all’s good.

Money can’t buy happiness but it sure as hell can buy a lot of things. I have proven one thing: Lack of money causes a chain reaction that brings nothing but stress and unhappiness. So in a real sense money does buy a certain kind of happiness despite what the PMA (Positive Mental Attitude) people would like us to believe. I am all over having a positive mental attitude. But maintaining a positive mental attitude is a little tough when you can’t feed the family, make the mortgage and the utilities go off and on with the flow of paychecks. That’s not a recipe for happiness. Which brings us to the burden of men.

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” …. Some of us seem to sweat more than others. Choices, culture, family, genetics or simple luck; call it anything you want. It’s the Burden of Men. Father, Husband, Provider, tough titles with tough tasks. I’m not complaining, that’s just the way it is. Marian could write an equally compelling book called The Burden of Women. All of this rhetoric is to explain why I haven’t written in my blog since May. The Burden of Rick has weighed me heavily down, which is the burden of men in my world.

This is supposed to be a fun forum with humorous anecdotes. But this is also a verbal reality show. Occasionally reality isn’t very humorous. One thing about my new job; my natural sense of humor is returning. Seems like the last three years the burden crushed my sense of humor, my personality, and my hope for the future. I felt as if my dreams had been run through a rock crusher. No more! I feel the light coming back. I feel the ambition coming back. Perhaps some other things that are really important to me will come back as well.

Money can’t buy happiness… but life can REALLY suck without it.