Hello Steemit, I found this blog through a friend, and look I'll be honest here, I have never blogged before, but like everything else in my life, I tend to just jump right in and have a go.
My name is Ron. I'm 38. Born in October 1977. Here's a mug shot I swiped from my Facebook account. I am married and have two amazing children, aged 17 and 13
I mostly grew up in Canberra, Australia, but was moved around a lot when younger, I have counted up and had been to 12 different schools by the time I was in Year 4. Here is a map of the area we finally settled down in.
Unfortunately, my childhood was not the greatest, I'm not going to go into too much detail in this post, but lets just say that I grew up with only one parent, and there was not much money for luxuries.
There were some good times though, and I do remember when I was younger we lived in Queensland, in a town called Yeppoon, this is the gateway town to a beautiful island resort called Great Keppel Island.
I remember going here for free as my mother worked on the island, and pretending that I was a rich tourist, sampling all the island had to offer!
At age 16 I left home and began my life on my terms.
My first job was with a mechanics workshop, where I was training to be a mechanic, following one of my passions which is everything automobile!
I made some great friends here, and there were a few older guys who I looked up to and showed me the ropes. But I soon started to think that if I stayed in this industry, I would end up just like them...40 years old with knee and back problems, multiple past injuries and not a huge pay packet to show for it all. So it was time for a change.
I was always interested in buying and selling, and decided to use my mechanical knowledge and moved into retail for a national auto parts supplier. They were more focused on the retail DIY customer rather than the professional workshop.
I started off as the Spare Parts Interpreter, but within a year I worked up to the Assistant Store Manager. I then was offered an amazing opportunity in the same company, which involved travelling up and down the whole east coast of Australia, from Darwin in the north to Melbourne in the south, and everywhere in between. I snapped up the job offer and relocated to Brisbane, Queensland.
I loved this new job, I was travelling to a different area of Australia every second week, staying in fancy hotels and sampling the some of the best restaurants Australia had to offer. I often had spare time to explore the regions I was working in, I thought I had the best job in the world!
Some of my standout memories of this time include watching the sun set over the ocean in Darwin - I lived on the East Coast, so I never had seen this before!
Another one would be The Barren Falls in Cairns, Queensland, absolutely beautiful!
I saw the best of Australia, and I really do wish I had photographed my travels so I had more of a record of what I saw and experienced.
However, there was a small problem with this lifestyle.
I was leaving my young family behind. My poor partner, Michelle, was stuck at home with my 2 year old son, while I was off gallivanting around the country, having the time of my life.
Time for Change again.
We relocated back to Canberra, in order to be closer to Michelle's family, and to provide a stable, secure upbringing for my son. It was during this time that I discovered eBay...what a revelation is was to me then!
More on my eBay journey in separate post!
I was still with the same company, now as Store Manager and quickly established my reputation as good leader and business operator.
I was then "poached" by another company, and started running a business selling sports gear.
I then "job hopped" a fair bit, nearly every new year saw me in a different company, I had sold everything from Sportsgear to Carpet, Electrical Switchboards to Commercial Refrigeration.
My last role was with a national electronics and technology retailer, and I managed to stay there for 4 years, as I really enjoyed the feel of the company, and had good success there.
Unfortunately, higher up the corporate ladder, things were not going so well, and the company collapsed, leaving me without a job for the first time in my life
And so began the most challenging year of my life.
I decided to take some time out of the workforce, to work on my eBay business, and do some renovations at home.
But something was wrong.
I didn't feel well. I mean, I was constantly sick and tired, and was gradually getting worse. I had no appetite and had lost a lot of weight.
Then came the day that I could barely stand up. My blood pressure was through the roof and my heart was pounding.Michelle convinced me to go into hospital. I was immediately taken though to emergency, and blood was taken for testing.
The news came back...I had zero kidney function. My kidneys had failed.
This was irreversible and permanent.
That had caused the high blood pressure. I also had severe anaemia, there was not enough oxygen getting around my system. I was very sick, the doctors told Michelle that if I hadn't have come into hospital then, I would have been in a coma within a week, and perhaps even dead.
That was 9 weeks ago, now I have to have dialysis three times a week for 5 hours at a time just to stay alive. I am being put on a transplant list but that might be 3-4 years away.
I do feel a bit better due to the dialysis, but still along way from 100%
But I have not taken this a setback.
I decided early on to make this an opportunity.
I had always been doing well on eBay since starting to sell way back in 2004. I was a part time powerseller, making extra money whenever I needed it.
This was my opportunity to go full time. To realise my dream of making a living on eBay and working to my own schedule, to break free from the 9 to 5 mentality.
Its still early days, and I am still battling with my health, but so far things are looking promising, I have already managed to match my previous income when i was working full time for the last month, despite having to go into hospital for barrages of tests and treatments.
So there is me in a nutshell, thanks for reading, if you would like to know anymore of my story please let me know in the comments section.
Of course, upvotes would be appreciated !!