Poker and Life

If you really want your family to respect what you do then this is the end all, be all approach.....Win the WSOP title on TV and take em out on the town to celebrate. If that doesnt do it, F'em. If they dont understand what makes you happy then just send them a card on holidays and be done with it. My family supported my decision to join the Marine Corps because thats what I wanted to do and if I ever get good enough to move past making $500 month from poker and to your level, my family would support that as well, b/c I would most surely get out of the one job I love to pursue the second thing I love, poker, and maybe being in a band a close third. Just my 2 cents (it all I could afford to give...LMAO)

I dont know what type of person you are, but there are a couple of things that I can say. First, let me say that i dont feel i owe anything to anyone except myself and god. I know this answer is not enough for everyone, but it is enough for me.
Analyze where your depression is stemming from and be absolutely honest. More importantly analyze where your happiness comes from. Are you happy with your life as your life? Does this happiness outweigh the disapproval youre feeling from others? Is their opinion of you important enough to cost you 150k a year and make you pursue something you dont want to pursue?

Before you rush off to make something of yourself figure out what that means. Define that. Furthermore, recognize whose definition that is. Is the "something" your parent's "something," your GF's, society's, your own? Is that "something" a worthy goal for yourself?

I graduated from a premier liberal arts school 2 years ago, and got so upset with other people's definitions of success that i decided i would never let someone else make the rules of my life. If you dont like the outcomes then check your premises. i realized that the premises i was operating under (what was deemed as "success")were arbitrary depending on who i was around. In fact, i was operating under multiple sets of rules, trying to find a "good" job (for my parents), trying to find a job near Memphis (for my GF), trying to find a job near baton rouge (for my friends), trying to continue in schooling (for an idea of myself that i no longer wanted).

The point is this life is too precious to live according to someone elses rules. You wouldnt play poker under those conditions. Why play life that way?

anyway, to reiterate, i live for myself, and for god, under the framework and conditions that he has provided. everything else is secondary.

-MH

[lehighguy]

You owe society and other people nothing.

Moreover, thier advice may be horrible. Most worker bees don't know any better.

[bearly]

i wouldn't presume to speak from a position of expertise, but many on these forums (especially the stt forum) might lay out the fact that the very long term varience of the game (assuming you are playing hold'em) indicates that along the way you will take that pay-cut to 40k, and horror of all horrors---a real pay cut. you may not win! i know everyone of the 500 people on 2+2 who make over 100k per yr. (that should read maybe a half dozen) say it just can't happen............................i wouldn't bet on it, and i do bet...............b