Hey.
This question goes to those who lives on poker. Do u ever feel bad over that your playing poker and living such an easy and chill life compared to the majority that goes to an industry or similar job every day and comes home totally exhausted and often times make even less money then you?

I feel kind of sorry for those who work their ass of and have no free time and makes alot less money then me. So it sometimes feels like limit myself to not doing my best because I dont wanna make to much money and stick out to much and hurt other people.

Am I crazy? How do you reason about it?

yes

Play your A-Game and ship me whatever you think you made too much.

Haha I knew it. The f*** society f*** me up again. So I learnt something new today I guess. I think my drive to fit in has had a huge inpact on me, specially with the mentality Ive been raised with:: The Law of Jante.


How do you reason about it?
"I dont give a f***. If your not smart enough as me and make something of your life then thats your problem" ?

I stop before I have to much :S

Its a weird feeling. Like a mental block to not stick out to much and not shine to bright because then others around you might feel bad. I even feel sorry for fish sometimes for their lack of knowledge..

lifes short, get paid

No.

Well, were do you core values lie ? Is it more important now to make money, or to not be looked upon by others ? Is it more valuable for you to care about others around you including fish or not ? All perfectly reasonable questions you need to answer.

those ppl who you are winning money from mostlikely gonna lose it anyways, so its ok to win it (imho), and then if you want you could donate it to some charity

every man lives by their own choices and life variance
limiting yourself on something you worked hard improving is just plain stupid imo.

This comes to mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w77YZKMmG64

Don't be limiting yourself because of other people. It's your money to risk, society pays nothing towards poker that they don't want to, so why shouldn't you make as much as you can at it? Plus, even if your feeling guilty, think of all the benefits you can bring to society if you made a **** ton and started a business or any other one of the millions of things you can do which directly benefit them. Just because you aren't at the moment, not that that should matter, doesn't mean you won't ever, and it won't be a direct result of what you are doing now.

Wow!
Really good answers coming up! Thanks alot!
I like the thought of donating money and also starting some business that benefits others. That gives it a totally different perspective and drive. Then its not just me on stake.

Something more that hit me.
The money doesnt really have that high of a purpose to me. I dont really have anything that I want to spend them on. Sure I would like to have a timber house in the woods and be able to go on different adventures all the time, but I dont REALLY want it. I just kind of want it.

My main goal with money is to have freedome and to be able to chill and do different adventures. Im doing that right now to some level, but at the same time it feels like its not ok to live life that way. It feels like I need to have a boring job and struggle in life to be accepted. Its like someone is telling me that I need alots of money, but I have no idea why and what to do with them?

Its like I feel the pressure to "grow up" and be an "adult". So Im always fighting against myself. When I chill I feel guilt for not working and when Im working I feel guilt for not chilling and doing stuff that I like. WTF??

Have you ever feelt like this and what did you do about it? Or whats your reasoning for not feeling like this?

It's not at all unusual for poker players (and certain other industries, I would imagine) to feel somewhat troubled by their job.

On an intellectual level, it's easy to justify doing what you want for a living, and there's nothing wrong with that. If you are good at your job and can work for less time and make more money than Person Y who has to put in 50 hours a week at the office, why wouldn't you do that? Most other people who were capable of doing what you do (and knew that poker was a potentially viable job) would snap accept the offer, provided they had the skill and resources and felt that the more uncertainty of a poker income was something they could tolerate.

On the other hand, poker often doesn't feel very rewarding. This is a game of predators and taking (as opposed to giving), and ultimately it adds very little to the world. Again, there's nothing specifically wrong with that, except that many people seem to become very discouraged, after a time, if they feel their work has no real meaning. It's one of the reasons that some people, once they feel they've earned enough money or don't like that feeling any more, get out of poker.

So you aren't crazy, and yes, many other people have felt or do feel the same way that you do. Ultimately, only you can decide if having a job that isn't "useful" is something you can live with, and/or for how long.

Donating some of your time and money to charity is an excellent way to feel as if you are contributing to the world in some way. Find something you are passionate about, but don't just send them a check. Get out in your community and help people in some way. This helps a lot of people who don't particularly like their job, or feel it has much value, feel as if they are making a positive contribution to the world.

Ultimately, many people like to feel as if they are touching someone else's life, and that is difficult in a game like poker.

As for your guilt over "chilling", everyone needs downtime. Taking care of yourself mentally and physically is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Traveling is also extremely beneficial, IMO - it helps us see the world through another culture, if you get out there long enough. It's an rare opportunity you have, to be relatively unencumbered and have the money to go out and see the world. Take advantage of that, or you'll regret it later.

Thank you so much SGT RJ!

This hit me really hard:

Very wize words. I couldnt put my finger on it before you said it. Now I have something to work on/towards!