"Why did you spend that much money for a seminar?!"

That was my parents' (actually, my mom's) reaction when they learned I paid PhP2,500 for a 2-day seminar in a five-star hotel. They didn't see my excitement. They didn't even wonder what it was about. They didn't understand. They just reacted in that way. I felt like I have no ability to make the right decisions for myself. Not even the fact that I paid for that seminar seem to matter. They see it as a useless expense.

It's an investment on my part. They just don't trust me. My parents. Of all people. I am in a business that gives me credibility. But my own parents think I am not credible enough. I thought they understood. I guess I was wrong. I let them see a preview before and they were proud of me for investigating the business and deciding on my own. I even saw a spark of interest. I was wrong. Maybe they just don't have the information I know or the events I have experienced. I felt independent for doing that business. Somehow, I'm starting to realize I can do something worthwhile-- just me, myself and I.

"You should have bought a dress with that money!"

That's my mother again. A dress?! What the hell am I supposed to do with a dress if I'm a bum and jobless? Stare at it and eat it when I get hungry?!

At least I have the guts to look for an option, an alternative since what we're getting now is not making me happy. I don't want five years to pass and we are still in the same state we are in at the moment! At least I'm moving. Unlike them... Just bumming around. Yeah, they're old already, I know. I'm doing this since I don't want to reach that age and be like them. Giving my kids all the pressure in life because I'm too old for that. They just want to retire. I want to retire at 30. I don't want to reach 60 (like my father) and not have money. I don't want to reach the time when I have to ask my nephews or nieces in the U.S. to send me money to buy a cellphone. Retirement is not dictated by age. It is dictated by the financial status of a person.

Someone showed me before one of the differences the way a rich person and a poor person thinks. An employee thinks of how to minimize input of money. A business person or investor thinks of how to maximize output. I can see my parents thinking of minimizing my input of money on certain things. Now, I don't wonder why we are still poor.

Oh well, I never told them that the PhP2,500 is my future. Do they think that amount is too big for my future? If I have all the money in the world, I would give everything to be certain of a financially secure future for myself and my family. They don't know that the Weekend Seminar is a money-back guarantee. If a person isn't changed or touched whatsoever after the weekend, he/she can get the money back.

For once, let me be.