Charlie Munger will sometimes tell the story of his uncle, who was an architect. A Harvard educated architect. Meaning, he put in a lot of time and effort to be the best possible architect he could be. When the Great Depression hit, when it spread across the country, his uncle and, many member’s in the Munger family, lost everything.

What did they do? They cut the house in half. Downsized. Moved in outside family members, saved, and his uncle took a job way below his skill level doing drafting work. It was hard. Yet, Charlie says his uncle never complained.

He just worked, and he pushed onward. They eventually made it through.

Charlie says two lessons from that experience have always stuck with him, and ultimately, played a part in his life:

ONE: Never feel sorry for yourself.

TWO: Never have envy. It’s the only one of the deadly sins you won’t have any fun at.

I think that’s a fantastic story and one I wanted to share. Do with it what you will.