The really sad thing that I do lose sleep over at night is that my grandkids were born with $220,000 in debt the day they emerged into this world. That's a function of my very selfish and self serving generation. We are the first generation that dumped more debt on the next generation than all of the previous generations of Americans combined. I am ashamed every time I think about it. I pray for their happiness and future but know that we really didn't do the job we should have.
I'm teaching my girls to work, to fix things they already have, to save (particularly tangible assets), to grow, hunt and fish for their own food and how to defend themselves. I think that the attitude of self-reliance, toughness and the ability to take anything will serve them well whether times are good or bad. If I can pull this off, I don't care about much else. They'll be fine, to use a Doc phrase.
I'm wound pretty tight, yes. But I'm happy. Mostly, I just like to argue, and have since I was a very young boy. I was an argumentative little sh*t, and it caused me problems in school, but it also got me where I am. I recognize it as both a flaw in my character and the reason for my successes.
You should hear the political fights my brother and I have...and we agree about 90% of the time. Just good fun for me, mostly.