Being from Milwaukee, I’ve been a Prince Fielder fan for a long time. So when we found out he was going to be leaving us, it was a pretty sad day. Prince brings a little bit of fun to the league without coming across like a huge jerk that so many other professional sports players do.

Yesterday, it was announced that he had signed with the Detroit Tigers for 9 years and a staggering $200+ million. Disregarding the argument of whether or not he’ll be worth that kind of money to a team, I was happy for him.

And yet, when you ask around, or you log onto Facebook, you start seeing the same old clichés:

• “Geez, I could use that kind of money!”
• “I’m in the wrong line of work!”
• “All that money to play a game…”

And so on.

But while I agree that athletes make more money than they are worth, I am not envious of them. Think of what that money means for a player like Prince Fielder:

• Every move he makes in public, and every comment he makes to someone is scrutinized.
• He is on the road and away from his family for over 200 days a year, not including practices, spring training, media appearances, and spokesperson deals.
• He works a lot of nights.
• He will miss a lot of family holidays – many athletes do. Want to spend Christmas with your family? If you’re in the NFL or the NBA, you likely won’t.
• He is constantly showering with a bunch of other guys.
• He takes a lot of risk – if you break your leg, you might be off from work for a little bit. If he breaks his leg, he could risk losing his entire career, depending on the nature of the injury.

I don’t even have kids of my own yet, and I can see why that life would suck. What about you? If you are at all close with your family, you’re going to be kinda miserable.

There is probably a segment of you saying, “So what? I wouldn’t mind the travel, and I’d love that kind of lifestyle!” Well, you’re probably not walking around telling people that he’s overpaid, either.

When we’re unhappy about where we are in life, we tend to be quick to point fingers at people who are somehow making our lives worse. And yet, the heads of corporations are powering industries that make our lives easier – and I’d argue better – every single day. Heck, even pro athletes are powering industries that make our lives better: without the players, we wouldn’t have games to go to or watch on TV with friends and family. We wouldn’t have that escape where we can cheer and boo who we want.

We get so focused on what we don’t have that we ignore what others don’t have, either. I’m sure Prince Fielder is happy, and he loves playing the game of baseball for a living, even if it comes with some lousy parts. He’s willing to make the sacrifices necessary to bring in that kind of dough.

Do you want to make your life better? Is there some aspect of your life that could be improved? If so, you’ll have to make other sacrifices to get there. If you’re not willing to do that, just shut your mouth and get back to work. Whining isn’t going to do anything but make everybody else cranky too.