If you haven't read Dave Ramsey's "The Total Money Makeover", you should. Randy and I have been through his "Financial Peace University" class and follow it very closely (we don't carry around envelopes, but we do almost everything else). Anyway, I don't want to overload you with facts and information (see previous post). But, I did want to post an excerpt from his book. Dave depicts the feeling you experience when you scratch and claw your way to the end of his financial quest (Baby Step 7).
Growing up in the suburbs in Tennessee, I grew accustomed to riding a bike and facing hills. To a seven-year-old with one gear, a huge hill looked like Mount Everest. I don't know which kid in history did it first, but the technique for a small-guy bike hill climbing has been passed down for generations-the switchback. Instead of pedaling straight up, we would painfully go side to side, taking a small bite at a time of our Tennessee mountain. The unpopular players' baseball cards made a slow click, click, click through the spokes as we made our ascent. The heat seemed ovenlike, and the beads of sweat turned to rivers. This is the time a seven-year-old pushes with every muscle in his being. The strain and determination show on your face like last year's Halloween mask. You pull on the handlebars with all the power your arm muscles will produce to push your legs down on the pedals one more time. Push, push, breathe, breathe until you finally reach the top.
What do you find at the top? The cynical among us just said "Another hill to climb." Those of us with a kid still alive inside know what was at the top. Those of us who still have a kid inside who can dream, who can believe, and who can hope know what we found at the top. Those of us that have pushed up some unbelievable hills know what I found that Tennessee summer day at the top of a hill. I found that perfect moment. The perfect moment when you push the pedal the last time before going down a huge hill on the other side. The perfect moment when you hang in the balance, after all the sweat, the work, and the agony, and a smile breaks across your face. That moment just before we take the glorious ride down is the "Pinnacle Point".
And the ride down is glorious. The wind blows through your hair, and your feet are not on the pedals anymore but on the handlebars. The click, click, click of the baseball cards becomes a chattering with a sound like thousands of crickets. You are now enjoying the ride; the coasting is the fruit of your labors. Memories of strain, sweat and repeated near failure fade as the sun shines and the wind tickles your ears, whispering, "You are the king! You did it! You climbed the hill! You didn't quit! You paid the price to win!" The smile in your soul says "Accomplishment."Being someone who knows what it feels like to be forced to make switchbacks in order to gain any sort of ground on a huge hill with baseball cards in the spokes, I know the feeling that comes with the accomplishment. I have experienced the feeling of going faster than fast. I try to keep that feeling in mind while I make switchback after switchback up my financial hill.
P.S. I saved this picture to my computer desktop with the label "hilarious dog picture - wizard of oz monkey". Enjoy.
0 comments:
Post a Comment