Kir and I decided over the weekend that people who succeed are made up of Bill Clinton types and George Bush types. The George Bush types go into their lives with an expectation of success. They knock around using the power and privilege they were born into to make a pretty decent life. They assume that things will work out well for them and don’t ever try very hard to make it happen. These people do things like wander around managing sports teams until they decide that it’s time to take life seriously. The Bill Clintons work for what they get. They start working young, do things like being the youngest governor in the US, and at every stop they have their eyes on the next goal. They know what they want, and are prepared to bleed to get it. Both types end up being president someday.

I know I’m a Bill Clinton type. I mean, my own mother made fun of my obsession with building a solid resume. But I can’t help it. I know how I want to be successful, and if you know what you want, why not do everything you can to make it happen? I’ve been aiming full throttle at my goals since I was 16 and decided I wanted to go to Georgetown. Kir, for a long time, was neither a Bill nor a George. He didn’t have an expectation of success, but he didn’t have any expectation of failure, either. He wasn't assuming that his life would naturally turn out well, but he wasn't really thinking at all about how his life would turn out. Now, whether it’s exposure to me or just age creeping up on him, Kir is turning into a planner, too. I was talking to him the other day about what kind of job he could in grad school, and he’d already considered it and knew what he wants.

Sunday was my brother’s birthday. He didn’t get a birthday journal entry because he doesn’t read this journal, and also I was busy being ill. Kir was sick, too. We suspect food poisoning, but don’t know where we could have picked it up. But what else could it be, really? Spontaneous digestive system rebellion?

But I do love my brother, lots and lots, and I hope he had a great birthday.

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USAID is one of many donors for the project I work for. The views expressed herein are the author’s own views and do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer or especially those of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. And I mean it. I probably give the US government heart attacks.