So I've given the whole idea of value vs. money-chasing some thought for the past few weeks.
It's true, and I'm pretty sure a lot of us are guilty: We're often in it because of the money. Not because we want to provide value. Instead, we chase through ideas, hoping to find the one shortcut. Although we know that there are no shortcuts in life. And even if we found it: We could have used the time we spent looking for the shortcut building something meaningful.
A few days ago, something interesting happened. Out of curiosity, I googled myself. I found stuff about university lectures and talks I held and about my political activities, mostly.
But then, I stumbled across something interesting.
Some guy wrote a blog article about a robotics project he was building. He mentioned my name several times. He had used the source code I wrote for an electronic compass. That Chinaware absolutely did not do what the specifications said it would, but I made it run, anyway. I blogged about this. That source code I wrote allowed him to complete his robotics project. He said it was the only working source code on the internet he could find.
A few months earlier, an elderly man wrote me an email because he had found my source code, too, and asked me to program a plane model for him, because my source code was the only working code he found and he really wanted to enter an autonomic model plane contest.
I remembered that. And then I began to cry. You might wonder why.
The last couple of years have been hard. My alcoholism and my depression nearly killed me, several times. I had to move back in with my mother. I really hit rock bottom. I had absolutely no feeling of self-worth left.
To pass the time in unemployment after my time in psychiatry, I picked up electronics and programming Arduinos. So I was sitting there in the basement of my mother and taught myself how to program microcontrollers and electronic components. I found a problem I was very frustrated with, solved it, and shared the solution.
Yes, indeed, I need money. I'm in debt, and I don't want to be.
But you know what really made me happy that day that I googled myself? That although I had ruined my life and was dwelling in the basement of my mother, I apparently managed to provide value to the life of others. And I finally felt a glimpse of self-worth again. And that's something money can't buy.
It's true, and I'm pretty sure a lot of us are guilty: We're often in it because of the money. Not because we want to provide value. Instead, we chase through ideas, hoping to find the one shortcut. Although we know that there are no shortcuts in life. And even if we found it: We could have used the time we spent looking for the shortcut building something meaningful.
A few days ago, something interesting happened. Out of curiosity, I googled myself. I found stuff about university lectures and talks I held and about my political activities, mostly.
But then, I stumbled across something interesting.
Some guy wrote a blog article about a robotics project he was building. He mentioned my name several times. He had used the source code I wrote for an electronic compass. That Chinaware absolutely did not do what the specifications said it would, but I made it run, anyway. I blogged about this. That source code I wrote allowed him to complete his robotics project. He said it was the only working source code on the internet he could find.
A few months earlier, an elderly man wrote me an email because he had found my source code, too, and asked me to program a plane model for him, because my source code was the only working code he found and he really wanted to enter an autonomic model plane contest.
I remembered that. And then I began to cry. You might wonder why.
The last couple of years have been hard. My alcoholism and my depression nearly killed me, several times. I had to move back in with my mother. I really hit rock bottom. I had absolutely no feeling of self-worth left.
To pass the time in unemployment after my time in psychiatry, I picked up electronics and programming Arduinos. So I was sitting there in the basement of my mother and taught myself how to program microcontrollers and electronic components. I found a problem I was very frustrated with, solved it, and shared the solution.
Yes, indeed, I need money. I'm in debt, and I don't want to be.
But you know what really made me happy that day that I googled myself? That although I had ruined my life and was dwelling in the basement of my mother, I apparently managed to provide value to the life of others. And I finally felt a glimpse of self-worth again. And that's something money can't buy.
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