Bob Williamson; "Fortunately, I became a serial entrepreneur instead of a serial killer."...good story

[ZoEd]

http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2011/03/14/my-first-million-bob-williamson-horizon-software-international/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl12%7Csec1_lnk2%7C50063

Williamson's life as a serial entrepreneur has seen him build a number of successful companies, but true to form, there was plenty of drama along the way, which he chronicles in his autobiography, Miracle on Luckie Street. In both Willimason's professional and personal lives, it's been the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but for the past few years, there's been more peaks than valleys. A few years ago, he sold Horizon Software International, which specializes in food service supply chain management, for a tidy sum. And today, he's using some of that money to build a dream resort and spa on the Greenville, Fla., land that he calls home. It's the kind of place where they'll smoke your duck from the day's hunt.

Bob Williamson is a man who has seen it all. And then some.

"From a young age, I was always in trouble. I started drinking at 12, taking drugs at 17. I went to 19 different schools, hopped freights all across the country, went into the military, got court marshaled after six months. They diagnosed me as a sociopath and kicked me out. I got addicted to methamphetamine, so I would stay up for several days and then use heroin to come down. I ended up homeless, living on the streets. I was very violent, a vicious criminal carrying a .357 Magnum. I was living in New Orleans, committing armed robberies and forgeries, things like that. I found out there was was a sting operation to catch me. The police were running a dragnet, sweeping the French Quarter, so I hitchhiked to Atlanta.

"I was basically penniless and I didn't know anyone, so I got my first job. I cleaned mortar off of bricks, so they could be reused, but nothing else changed. I got into a bar fight, nearly killed a guy cutting his face with a broken bottle. A couple of weeks after that, I got drunk and was in a head-on collision that nearly killed me. While I was laid up in the hospital, I befriended a nurse who would check out books from the library for me. I noticed that the Bible was on top of the bestseller list, so I decided to check it out. I was an atheist, so I read the Bible to try and disprove it, but I became enamored with Jesus Christ. It seemed like he was filled with compassion, not condemnation, which had always been my impression of religion. That experience reading the Bible changed my heart. 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.' What I wanted to do was change my life. I was 22 and I'd seen a lot of people die -- shot, stabbed, overdosed. I was suicidal, thought I was going to die, but I became convinced that the Bible was true. I got out of the hospital determined to change my life.

Click link for entire story

Wow, what an awesome story, motivating to say the least.