A
Joke:
Sam was a very devout man. One day, he found himself caught in a
flood. As the water was up to his knees, a neighbor came by in a
rowboat and offered him a ride to safety. Sam replied "No thanks.
I believe in the Lord and he'll take care of me."
The water continued to rise and Sam found
himself crawling up a ladder to the roof. As he reached the roof,
a Sheriff's boat came by and offered to take him to safety. But
Sam told him "No thanks. I believe in the Lord and he'll take care
of me."
Soon the sun began to
set, darkness was all around, and Sam found himself sitting on the
highest point of his roof, his feet in the water. A rescue
helicopter came by and lowered a ladder down to Sam. But Sam
shouted up "No thanks. I believe in the Lord and he'll take
care of me."
But the waters kept rising and eventually Sam drowned.
When he got to
Heaven, Sam went to God and said "I don't understand. I have
tried to be a devout man. I have believed strongly and prayed
constantly. And yet I am dead."
God replied "I don't
understand either. I sent two boats and a helicopter."
All too often in our
lives, we turn over some very important things to God or fate, believing
that we can ignore important things and they'll be okay. There are
many reasons for this. Sometimes, we're overwhelmed with some
aspects of our lives, so we ignore other aspects. Sometimes we're
lazy. Sometimes, there's just too much stress and we don't have
the energy to handle "one more thing." Sometimes we're caught up
in making money "today" and don't plan for tomorrow.
My wife and I recently
bought one house and sold another. The details are literally
overwhelming. And yet, in just a few weeks we made decisions that
involve hundreds of thousands of dollars and a commitment that--at least
on paper--will last 30 years! In this situation, we relied on
professionals: realtors and lawyers and escrow people who deal
with all the paperwork all the time.
Sometimes this
delegation of details is appropriate. But the bottom line is that
you have to take responsibility for the big picture. As my dear
mother used to say . . .
"God
helps those who help themselves."
Where do you turn over
your responsibility and let someone or something take control in your
life? Here are some danger signs. If you find yourself
believing these statements, you have probably abdicated responsibility
for some important aspects of your life:
 |
The government will
take care of it. (Alternatively, "The government wouldn't let them
do it if it wasn't safe.")
|
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My husband handles the
money.
|
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My retirement's all
taken care of (I have Worldcom and Enron stock!).
|
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There's plenty of time
to take care of that . . .
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I'm too young (or old,
or tired, or bored) to worry about that . . .
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I don't need to
exercise or watch my diet, I have these pills that take care of my
hypertension and diabetes.
|
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I don't want to think
about dying and wills and probate right now.
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What are you putting
off that you don't want to deal with? What parts of your life have
you turned over completely to someone else?
This is one of those
areas in which people know what they should do and yet refuse to
do it. Everyone should have a retirement plan. Social
Security and the Superball Lotto are not a retirement plan.
Everyone knows they need to take care of their health. But "today"
I'm not going to exercise and "today" I'll get away with the double-mondo
grease burger.
A great deal of what we
need is simply a matter of taking a little time every day to think.
We need to think about our lives. Do we have a plan? (Yes it
will change, but any plan is better than no plan.)
You can begin today.
Focus on yourself. Take a little time--perhaps 20 minutes a
day--to think about where you are and where you're going. What
have you turned over to others? Do you feel in control of
everything? If not, what knowledge do you need to feel in control
of things?
As with so many things,
a daily focus on where you're going and how to get there will make every
aspect of your life more meaningful. Over time you'll see a unity
between who you are and who you're becoming. You'll find the "you"
dealing with money and the "you" dealing with health and the "you"
dealing everything else are all the same person. Your life
can be rational and focused and a lot more "in control" if you just
spend a little time taking responsibility for where you're going and how
you want to get there.
Don't say "God will
take care of me" and then not pay attention to what's going on in your
life. Instead of two boats and a helicopter, maybe God sent two
financial planners and an insurance salesman.
### RFS ###
