I ran across this article recently and the title of it caught my attention. The main assertion is that you deserve to be poor if you have reached the age of 35 still being poor. In a world where there are so many inequalities and everyone does not have the same opportunities, I think that such proclamations have to be taken with a grain of salt. However, the fact remains that we all have the opportunity of time. The 24 hours a day that we spend doing our daily habits is no different than the 24 hours that a billionaire is afforded. It’s all in how you spend it. My favorite sentence of the article: “You’re poor because you have no ambition.” This doesn’t necessarily always mean education in the traditional sense. We judge people who drop out of school without recognizing that school isn’t something that’s necessary to succeed. The fact of the matter is that by age 35 a lot of people have become set in their own ways. Their childhood dreams have given way to the harsh reality of adulthood and they are in the middle of making payments on their car, their house, and their student loans. A lot are married and/or raising children and just trying to survive. This makes it hard to think about retirement and all the places they’ve always resolved to travel but haven’t yet. I heard someone say that it’s a sin to die poor and while I don’t agree, I think that dying poor is something that many people would never choose to do. We have to remember the bigger picture while living day to day. It’s essential. Don’t let your dreams collect dust.
I’ve worked as hard as I can through the years. I’m still poor at 35. Crippling pain from headaches and what the doctors are calling fibromyalgia (I think they’re just too lazy to diagnose anything else) have held me back. Add major depressive disorder to that, and you have a recipe for poverty.
I have tried. I have pushed myself to the breaking point countless times. I have worked so hard that my arms went numb and tingled and ached for days. I feel best after a hard day’s work, but I just can’t do it every day, or even a few days.
For some, It’s not a matter of lack of motivation. It’s lack of physical ability.
Absolutely! I don’t think it’s right to make such a huge generalization because everyone doesn’t have the same experience or opportunities. However, I think that there is a small degree of truth to the article as it pertains to those who may not have physical or emotional limitations that have a large impact on their quality of life.