Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is the biggest Hollywood star on the planet right now. He’s got more money than he could possibly ever spend, and while he’d love nothing more than to splurge on cool stuff for his dad, his old man simply won’t let him.
“Hell, I’ll get him anything he wants, but the SOB just won’t ask,” Johnson says about his father.
Even though his dad now has a son who could buy him literally anything, he simply doesn’t need it. As Johnson explains, his dad is a “minimalist” and has spent a lifetime surviving on the bare minimum.
In a recent Instagram post, Johnson explained the difficult circumstances his father faced as a teenager. When he was just 13, Rocky Johnson’s dad passed away. That Christmas, his mom’s new boyfriend got drunk and “pissed on the turkey,” upsetting the teen.
He went and retrieved a shovel, drawing a line in the snow and said “if you cross that line, I’ll kill you.”
The boyfriend, still really inebriated, crossed the line. Rocky then slammed him with the shovel, knocking him out. Police arrived and, in front of the entire family, said either Rocky or the boyfriend had to go.
Unbelievably, Rocky’s mother chose the boyfriend. He was now homeless at 13 years of age.
But he managed to survive, and as his famous son now explains, doesn’t need much to keep him going. Even when he buys him a new car, he says dad will “drive it into the ground” before getting another one.
A great lesson and reminder about the difference between needs and wants. We often think we need something, but in reality it’s just a want. Awesome to see a person who hasn’t let access to incredible wealth change him one bit.
Check out the full story from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson himself.
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