I'm 40 years old. My one and only brother is 43. When my brother was 18 he married his first girlfriend ever. To the best of my knowledge this is the only girl he's ever had sex with.
When my brother first moved in with his girlfriend at 18 years of age, he was working at a convenient store and they lived in a tiny studio apartment in baton rouge, LA. My brother got his girlfriend pregnant and so they decided to marry.
My brother is incredibly smart. To earn more money he decided to join the Navy. He excelled in the Navy and ultimately pursued a degree in engineering.
After ten years or so he quit the Navy and went to work as a civilian, supervising a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. It turns out you make pretty good money supervising power plants and by the time my brother was in his mid thirties he was the proud owner of a 5,000 square ft, 5 bedroom Mc Mansion, a volvo and the typical trappings of a "well off" american. He was living the "American Dream".
Around the same time, when I was 32, I broke off a six year relationship with a girl I had become engaged to, quit my job as a guitar instructor, started an internet business and ultimately spent six years travelling around central america, south america and the carribbean, having multiple short term and long term relationships along the way.
I can remember seeing my brother achieve the "american dream" a few years ago and feeling a sense of inferiority. It seemed like he had accomplished so much more than me. All I had were my travels and my stories, while my brother had a huge house, a family and money in the bank.
We really are polar opposites. Where he excels intellectually, I excel artistically. He's been with one woman his whole life, I've had multiple relationships and dozens of partners. He has a serious demeanor where I have a more laid back and carefree attitude towards life in general. He likes hard rock and I like jambands. He drinks beer and I drink wine. We really couldn't be more different.
Fast forward eight years. I'm now 40 and my brother is 43. My internet business just surpassed 50k a year for the first time last year and has been steadily growing each year for the last six years. Still not the six figures my brother makes, but getting there, and I'm able to travel and see the world, while I'm growing my business. I have been with lots of women over the last few years and have traveled to nine different countries, living in several for a year or more at a time.
About six months ago, my brother's wife, who has never worked or accomplished much of anything, other than giving birth to my brother's daughter, decided she didn't want to be married anymore. My brother has done everything in his power to save his marriage, including buying his wife her own house in a separate state, so she can "find herself" apart from my brother, on my brother's dime of course.
He seems more than willing to go along with this arrangement and do whatever he can to "save" his marriage. Based on our conversations he has no interest in being single and playing the field and will do anything in his power to keep his marriage intact, no matter what the cost.
I really have no idea if they'll stay together or not. My entire family seems doubtful that this sort of "band aid" to their 25 year marriage will work. But, who knows...
I used to feel inferior to my brother. I no longer do. But I also don't feel superior. I feel like we're simply two very different people with two very different approaches to life and relationships. I tell my brother stories of my adventures and exploits and he seems, for the most part, uninterested and unimpressed. He really seems content and eager to maintain the "status quo", while I tend to look at his wife and their problems with a cynical eye.
I'm really not sure who is right, if he can keep their marriage together AND it makes him happy, more power to him. I respect where he's coming from and hope thing work out for the best.
Time will tell how our stories play out. Currently, I find myself newly single, after a several year, off and on relationship, has come to a definitive end, with more plans to travel extensively this year..
A part of me wants to find a stable relationship. But another part of me realizes that there are no sure things when it comes to modern relationships and I'm happy to have the experience of dating and bedding dozens of women over the last few years while developing my entrepreneurial skills to the point where they are.
Whatever happens, I feel like I have the experience to weather what life throws at me. I'm not as sure about my brother, but I have the feeling he's not quite sure about me either...
When my brother first moved in with his girlfriend at 18 years of age, he was working at a convenient store and they lived in a tiny studio apartment in baton rouge, LA. My brother got his girlfriend pregnant and so they decided to marry.
My brother is incredibly smart. To earn more money he decided to join the Navy. He excelled in the Navy and ultimately pursued a degree in engineering.
After ten years or so he quit the Navy and went to work as a civilian, supervising a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. It turns out you make pretty good money supervising power plants and by the time my brother was in his mid thirties he was the proud owner of a 5,000 square ft, 5 bedroom Mc Mansion, a volvo and the typical trappings of a "well off" american. He was living the "American Dream".
Around the same time, when I was 32, I broke off a six year relationship with a girl I had become engaged to, quit my job as a guitar instructor, started an internet business and ultimately spent six years travelling around central america, south america and the carribbean, having multiple short term and long term relationships along the way.
I can remember seeing my brother achieve the "american dream" a few years ago and feeling a sense of inferiority. It seemed like he had accomplished so much more than me. All I had were my travels and my stories, while my brother had a huge house, a family and money in the bank.
We really are polar opposites. Where he excels intellectually, I excel artistically. He's been with one woman his whole life, I've had multiple relationships and dozens of partners. He has a serious demeanor where I have a more laid back and carefree attitude towards life in general. He likes hard rock and I like jambands. He drinks beer and I drink wine. We really couldn't be more different.
Fast forward eight years. I'm now 40 and my brother is 43. My internet business just surpassed 50k a year for the first time last year and has been steadily growing each year for the last six years. Still not the six figures my brother makes, but getting there, and I'm able to travel and see the world, while I'm growing my business. I have been with lots of women over the last few years and have traveled to nine different countries, living in several for a year or more at a time.
About six months ago, my brother's wife, who has never worked or accomplished much of anything, other than giving birth to my brother's daughter, decided she didn't want to be married anymore. My brother has done everything in his power to save his marriage, including buying his wife her own house in a separate state, so she can "find herself" apart from my brother, on my brother's dime of course.
He seems more than willing to go along with this arrangement and do whatever he can to "save" his marriage. Based on our conversations he has no interest in being single and playing the field and will do anything in his power to keep his marriage intact, no matter what the cost.
I really have no idea if they'll stay together or not. My entire family seems doubtful that this sort of "band aid" to their 25 year marriage will work. But, who knows...
I used to feel inferior to my brother. I no longer do. But I also don't feel superior. I feel like we're simply two very different people with two very different approaches to life and relationships. I tell my brother stories of my adventures and exploits and he seems, for the most part, uninterested and unimpressed. He really seems content and eager to maintain the "status quo", while I tend to look at his wife and their problems with a cynical eye.
I'm really not sure who is right, if he can keep their marriage together AND it makes him happy, more power to him. I respect where he's coming from and hope thing work out for the best.
Time will tell how our stories play out. Currently, I find myself newly single, after a several year, off and on relationship, has come to a definitive end, with more plans to travel extensively this year..
A part of me wants to find a stable relationship. But another part of me realizes that there are no sure things when it comes to modern relationships and I'm happy to have the experience of dating and bedding dozens of women over the last few years while developing my entrepreneurial skills to the point where they are.
Whatever happens, I feel like I have the experience to weather what life throws at me. I'm not as sure about my brother, but I have the feeling he's not quite sure about me either...
