Shannon's Journal Discussion

[Shannon]

Trust me, Shannon...

Be prepared for the transparent attempts to ingratiate themselves with you once you're successful. I've had that constantly from family and people I thought were friends, and lots of girls that treated me like trash beforehand (likely hearing through friends of friends how I'm doing nowadays and try to fix what they screwed up long ago), and/or belittle me and demean and doubt me and my success and tell me I'd never make it. Well I did make it, and I haven't forgotten how I was treated by them. The revisionist thinking from them has amused me too. A few have actually had either the delusion or audacity to come up to me and try to say "Hey, just so you know, no hard feelings..." WHAT?! YOU were the ones acting like trash, how dare you try to take the high road with me when it was you causing all of this. Just irritated me even more that they refused to take any responsibility for why things are the way they are, subtly implying it was all my fault somehow, and their behaviour had nothing to do with causing it all.

Just be prepared for that, and don't forget is what I'm saying. Because I guarantee THEY will forget, and even revise history.

Looking back on my life, it looks more and more suspiciously to me like I have been being "prepared" for the responsibility that will result from achieving great wealth for all these years. Not just in terms of being strong enough to defend myself from this sort of bullshit, but to not do stupid things with the money once I have it. Back when I started trying to make myself a millionaire (I was 18 at the time) I would have lost it all to leeches in an instant. Now... not so much. I have not enjoyed the long journey and the multiple "almost did it" scenarios that failed at the last moment, but I am definitely a stronger, wiser, more capable man for them. And probably when I am capable of handling the responsibility of dealing with the consequences of great wealth fully, and all of what that wealth will do for opening up new vistas of responsibility concerning why I am here and what I am attempting to achieve... I will achieve great wealth.

But I feel like I passed a test tonight by handling it the way I did. That's why I said... forget them. They can eat their own dog food and I will live my life. Revenge is a waste of time and energy and focus on the past you can't change, when you could be doing something worth your time and effort instead.

Their loss. I have a very good, very long memory.

And I am very good at detecting and defeating psychological manipulation and calling out bullshit. I'm sure this will only make me better when I achieve millionaire.