Strike Two (I’m Out?)

May 2, 2019. 30 Days to Write, Day 2

Strike 2. I wrote about how I almost got fired last year, around December… well, second time’s the charm. This time this was all on me. Long story short, I only remembered that I forgot to do something I should have done during the middle of each month, during what, the last week of April? 

All that was left to do was to take it in the chin. And I did. Just when I thought that fiasco was over, I get a call from another person in authority, basically reminding me to get my act together. 

I got slammed twice, twice. Got me thinking, man, a change of mindset is surely needed, but I think a change in a whole lot of other things has to happen. Not only in this, but in so many other perspectives, I am seeing myself as a liability. In this job. In church. In my house. 

Then again, the question is not if I should go, but as I’ve been asking for the longest time, where in God’s good earth should I go?

Maybe before I think about that, I ought to think of how to establish more than one cashflow stream. I lose the job I have now, and I’m back to being a liability, financially. 

I’m reminded again of why I got this job in the first place: I was supposed to start saving and slowly investing – first, in forex, and eventually, in other ventures… but now it seems as if the money I’m making is just to sustain me and the creature comforts that have surfaced in the past 3 years. 

Not good at all. 

Two things that I ought to be doing as of the moment; or, rather, two things I’ve started to do: (1) identifying unnecessary expenses and cutting them off, starting with online services with automatic payments, and (2) as mentioned earlier, identifying and pursuing new sources of income. 

To address (1) I’ve started by going through my list of logins, which lead to me checking each and every account online, to see if there are paid services I no longer use. To address (2), well, I’ve become a little bit more ambitious, in the sense that I’d like to shift to making a career out of cybersecurity (as I’ve probably mentioned before). But before that, I ought to look into each and every video I’ve saved to Watch Later on YouTube, presenting other ways I can make money online.

The goal here is to find the sure shot ways of getting a steady flow of money monthly, while undergoing physical training and education on cybersecurity, perhaps through paid courses supplemented by free lessons, eventually trying to find something I can do anywhere, from my laptop or as a consultant, wherever I find myself. I just remembered that I would also like to look into certifications. 

Depending on how that goes, I eventually want to put any excess cash into, again, forex, and other stocks; another thing I’d like to invest in i.e. a business, perhaps, or in specialty stocks, is waste management and disposal. The way I see it we aren’t going to be running out of garbage any time soon, and trash is a problem all over the civilized world. Any way to help the world out while earning is a good way to go, in my opinion. 

‘Course, I’m pretty confident in sharing all of this – hey, if I can’t do it, someone ought to. The highest goal I’ve seen here is to achieve high-scale financial philanthropic endeavors, and in the process influence the world on a larger, more macro scale. 

(Copying something I’ve written last month):

Adam Garrie tweeted a link about the tradition we have here of literally crucifying people during Holy Week, and he quoted that they’re paying for the sins of a ‘rotten class of oligarch’.

That got me thinking, is there a good class of oligarch? A Christian oligarch, perhaps? And, of course I thought, can I be a Christian oligarch?

I looked up the definition for oligarch, and, as Captain Obvious would have it, an oligarch is a member of an oligarchy, or a small group of people with power. Further definitions elaborate that, yes, oligarchs have great wealth, but also have significant political power, ‘a plutocrat’. 

Now, a plutocrat was defined as also very wealthy, but ‘one who derives power from his great wealth’, or something like that. 

Whistles blew in my mind and I was reminded of the fact that, as always, our power comes from Christ. 

My word, I’m reminded that even in our current financial state, we have power. I’ve been quoting ‘power is peace in all circumstances’ a lot recently, and indeed, in Christ, and because of Christ, we have peace, because He IS peace. Not just a feeling of peace, but a LIVING peace, one that truly transcends all benefit and failure that can be had with money, or lack thereof. 

Maybe it’s okay to be just a Christian. Or maybe that’s where to start… in order to be a pilot. A teacher. A thespian. A soldier.

Pilot Christians. Teacher Christians. Christians who are Thespians. Soldiers who are Christians, first.

Oh, to be an Oligarch Christian.

While everyone is watching Avengers and talking all about Endgame, I’m more excited about John Wick 3. And while a good number of people are watching Game of Thrones, well, I’m enjoying Billions, currently on its Fourth season. Fans of the show definitely know of the antics of power broker Chuck Rhoades and billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Axe), easily two of my current favorite fictional characters.

On the pilot episode of Billions Season 4, Michael Wagner reminds Axe that though Grigor is a Russian Oligarch, ‘you, mon frere, are a motherfucking American Oligarch’.

Expounding on the possible flavors an oligarch could have had me playing with words, and discovering it’s not the center of the Gobstopper just yet. No, at the core, we are one with Christ, and out of this our flavors as Christians emerge. 

We are salt of the earth, but we add our own taste to this reality. 

Maybe it really is time for me to shape up. But, more than in the current job I have, I need to shape up in so much more ways than one… To get out of the hole I’m in, and to get into the path of climbing towards what Christ would grow me to be.

All preferably before Strike 3.