THE RISE & FALL OF ME?
If you haven’t worked out by now, I don’t take myself too seriously and I certainly don’t take the media seriously; and neither should you. I’ve always been highly entertained by some of the crap the GC Bullshittin writes, but what Lea Emery published the day after my committal hearing finished in 2021 was particularly humorous.
The funny thing about what Lea, the man-hating feminist (her own description on her LinkedIn page) wrote in the piece, was that not only did it expose her jealousy and insecurities, but it showcased her ignorance and pinpointed why many people don’t achieve financial freedom in their lives. Okay so I added the “Man-hating” bit, but she does call herself a feminist, and aren’t they one and the same?
In her story, Lea attempted to paint a picture that I had somehow gone from living the high life to apparently living a lesser life now. If she did more than just troll my street, pestering my neighbours for some comments, she may have worked out that my life now is far better (superficially) than it was back in 2013. My life is far better in every area now, but for the purposes of this story, to stay on par with what she wrote, I’m only talking about financially.
My life’s focus is not on possessions and the measure of someone’s success is not their possessions or level of wealth. That said, my possessions and level of wealth are far superior now than they were in 2013. Back then, I lived in a small two-bedroom apartment with pretty average furniture and no savings or investments. Now, I am in a much larger house, furnished with beautiful new furniture and all the toys I could ever want.
While the toys are nice and I love having them, they are not how I measure my success. Of more importance to me is that I have now built an investment portfolio and am securing my financial future at the same time as the before-mentioned possessions. The fact the journalist wanted to suggest that I was somehow worse off these days was laughable though.
What was even more worrying was that her opinion that I once worked four jobs (it was only ever two jobs) was a bad thing. That is disturbing because it is a sentiment that is shared by most people. Unfortunately, it is the same people who are struggling financially.
The only reason I make this point is to change people’s mindsets concerning money. If you work more than one job, have a side hustle, or do whatever it takes to build a secure future for yourself and your family; I applaud you. To me, it’s not important if you have one high-paying job or three that pay an equal amount.
What matters is that you’re not a lazy fuck who complains about having no money, yet sits on their ass doing nothing about it, expecting the government or someone else to provide for you.
I actually lived next to a family where at one point, nine people lived in the same house, and despite six of them being adults, only one had a job. The rest leached off government support and had done so for the best part of a decade, despite there being a jobs boom.
If, like this particular journalist, you think that a person who does whatever it takes to be financially independent is a bad thing; then I feel sorry for you. I have no clue what this woman’s financial situation is, but based on her attitude towards money and other people’s financial outlook, I’d guess that she does not travel much (for lack of money), and when she does, it definitely isn’t business class.
Images Copyright J.D Mo'orea 2018
I’ll bet she doesn’t have at least six months’ worth of cash savings, doesn’t contribute at least 20% each week to either her superannuation or savings and doesn’t have a solid investment portfolio to take care of her in retirement. I have all of these things and I have no problem with the fact that I once worked two jobs to get them, and neither should you.
I no longer have to work two jobs to be able to do all those things listed above. When I did work two jobs, it was mostly because I was spending over ten thousand dollars each year on trips to the Maldives, the Caribbean, or on various cruises, plus an additional 10k-20k on investments. I’ll also bet that I was, and still am earning three times what she does, so maybe she should grab an extra job, or based on her researching skills; a new career.
Lea. If you would like some free advice on how to improve your financial situation, I’ll gladly send you a free copy of my book “The no B.S approach to create the life you want” which has an entire chapter dedicated to finances and how to build wealth. Oh. And it also has a chapter on happiness. Nuff said!
The fact that the media have become so obsessed with me, is adorable, if not sad. Since coming to terms with the media attention, I have found many ways to have fun with them; even if they are not aware of it.
For example, when Lea started doorknocking my street and asking my neighbours for comments about me, my neighbours asked me what I wanted them to say. I said that I didn’t really care, what they said, but I’d love it if they have fun with the media who came around.
On one occasion, when a neighbour was asked about me by a journalist, they said that I kept to myself, apart from each night, just before eight o’clock, when my curfew began. They said that each night, I did a nudie run around the street to celebrate my curfew starting, then right at 8 pm, I climbed the tree in my front yard and started “yanking it like a monkey in a mango tree”. I’m sure you can work out what they were referring to when they said “yanking it”.
Of course, this wasn’t the case, but it was nice to see my neighbours joining in the fun with the media. I am surprised that those things weren’t printed somewhere, because God knows the media have printed far worse.
In January 2021 during my committal hearing, I decided to stay focused and tune out the outside noise. This included stupid questions by the media on my way in and out of court each day, as well as any misdirected anger by Bree’s Aunt, or her misinformed followers.
I knew that my every reaction was being watched and that the media would do their best to elicit some sort of reaction. I was determined to stay focused on the job at hand. This meant that emotions of any kind were off the table. If I smiled, I would have been reported as showing little respect for Breeana. If I acted angrily, it would have been reported that I was showing signs of cracking under pressure.
Each day, as I entered and exited the court, I was listening to music to help me focus. This quickly caught the attention of the journalists, who pestered my Lawyer Chris Hannay as to what I was listening to. Like my neighbours, Chris likes to play with the media, so he told them that I was listening to one of my own audiobooks and a podcast about my next cruise. The truth of the matter was that I was listening to inspiring and uplifting songs to make sure I was primed for whatever the day held for me.
This plan of action worked, but it also had an unexpected benefit. After the first day of me wearing EarPods, the media realised that it was futile for them to ask me questions because I simply couldn’t hear a word they were saying. For the entire two weeks, not one of the reporters outside the court approached me.
I did laugh when my lawyer Chris told me on the first morning that my favourite parasite from A.C.A, Chris Allen, asked me “Are you worried about what might happen today?” To which my lawyer instantly shot back, “No. We’re more worried about the shit you might publish tonight.”
For those wondering, over the ten days, I listened to the following songs: Eye of the Tiger (Survivor). Gonna fly now (Theme from Rocky). Hold on (Wilson Phillips). Kyrie (Mister Mister). Drive (Incubus). Don’t stop believing (Glee). I’m still standing (Elton John), and This is the moment (Anthony Warlow).
https://jdmoorea.com/j-d-moorea-author/what-other-people-think-of-you/