Anonymous

August 9, 2121

When I was born our country was in the last 4 years of the great depression.  My family suffered in those depressed times but due to hard work and planning by my parents I feel we were better off than many.  We always had our own home, we had to rent a house because the house my parents were buying was repossessed when my Dad was transferred, by his company, to a different State and Town and they could not sell their property.  This, however, was before I was born.

I grew up in the time of the Cold War.  In school we had air raid drills which required us to get under our desks to shelter us from falling nuclear bombs.  I really have difficulty believing that our flimsy desks would have provided any protection but the school administrators had our best interests at heart, I am sure.  

One thing that was obvious, to me, was that our parents, teachers, the policemen, fire fighters, in fact nearly all of the adults we had contact with  taught us self confidence and self reliance.  Certainly, we had to deal with bullies, and others who did try to take advantage of the fact that, as children we could be vulnerable.  But, in most instances, kids did figure it out.  I think most kids today do the same.  

OK, where does the silver wisdom come into play?  Everyone that is able must become as self reliant as possible.  When one allows herself/himself to become too reliant on a third party, whether parents, government, spouse or partner the relationship very often becomes a trap where the obligation may take over ones life.  Being self reliant does not mean that one should not take advantage of all resources available.  Many times taking the next step in life requires taking on reasonable debt.  By reasonable debt I mean debt that will not become a burden too large compared to future resources that one has planned for repayment or too large in comparison to the project for which one has taken on the debt in the first place.  An example may be student loans to pay for an education in some field that cannot possibly provide the income necessary to repay the loan.

Life can be a marvelous experience, it can become dull and boring, it can become terrifying, some times all of these.  One can use their life to enhance their own position, help lift others in need or just to exist.  My experience leads me to believe that to really live a life that is meaningful one must be able to take care of oneself which means having the money/resources so as not to become a burden on anyone else, take care of ones family and help others who find themselves in need of assistance.