ok, I'll bite -
1. when I was 15, my family split up, and I was left alone to fend for myself. would have been very easy to give up and go live with family in Canada or the US. I worked 4 shifts a week while going to school and supported myself. never even dawned on me to ask the government or anybody else for help. did my laundry by hand in a bathtub, cooked all my own food. walked to school or rode my bike. didn't have a new pair of shoes or any new civillian clothes from about 15 until I got out of the army. graduated in the top 20 percent of my class.
when I got out of the army, I had less than 200 bucks in my pocket, no place to live, no clothes, no car, essentially everything I owned fit into a small shoulder duffle. within a few years I was living in a nice place, I was buying bespoke clothes, I had put myself through school, I had traveled around the world. didn't get a dime from anybody.
2. when my son was born I decided I couldn't give him the life I wanted to give him in Israel. we decided to move to the States. I didn't have enough money to do it well, and didn't have a good job lined up. I took a job that I knew would suck, liquidated 15 years worth of retirement funds, and moved halfway around the world. stuck through a horrible job with a psycho boss, went through a few months of unemployment, but landed on my feet with a great job in a great city. last year, after 5 years in the states, was the first year I earned more than I earned in Israel. this year I will earn 40% more (gross) than my best year in Israel - which is more than twice as much net.
