The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”Theodore Roosevelt

I've started listening to the Bigger Pockets podcast; the personal stories of struggle and triumph on there are putting fuel in my tank and driving me forward. 

(Insert picture of a silhouetted man, fists raised in triumph, standing on top of a sharp crest at sunset.)

No tales of glowing end-of-the-story triumphs.

And I figured I'd start a live Blog/Forum to document my epic triumph or defeat; though I'm pulling for the former.The History:  My REI journey started out while I was "road warrior", and I stumbled across this crazy dude on the AM station talking about living debt free. 

I am "giving in" and "making it work", asking questions that solve her narrow world view of "f*ck everyone else who is not me", and seeing the triumph in her eyes.  

But ultimately we are social creatures, and that will will (sic) triumph.

Another cliche is the best way to triumph in a lawsuit is to avoid it in the first place.What I am more concerned about are frivolous lawsuits, such as a tenant blaming his emphysema on some non-existant mold at my property and not the 3 packs of cigarettes he smokes daily.

Anyway, through adversity comes triumph.

My journey has been full of learning about myself and lots of mini triumphs of self-empowerment.