by winston » Fri Aug 07, 2009 9:46 pm
Two Lessons I Learned in Pigeon Forge By Dr. Steve Sjuggerud
"What's the difference between a U.S. savings bond and a whitewater rafting guide? A savings bond earns money and matures eventually."
We'd just finished whitewater rafting with three generations of our family. On the bus ride back to the car, the whitewater guide was full of jokes.
"Where do you hide a rafting guide's paycheck? Under the soap."
He looked super fit... but his pockets and his bank account were no doubt empty. He didn't care. He was living his version of a rich life, today. He was living for experience, not "stuff."
His version of a rich life was simpler than mine... But I've been forced to live a simpler life this week. I've been cut off from the world. That's how I learned my first lesson...
I'd planned on working on this family vacation. But my cell phone doesn't get reception at the mountain house we rented, 30 minutes outside of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. And the satellite doesn't work either. So I have no Internet, e-mail, cell phone, or TV. Like I said, I've been cut off.
I've learned that, well, I'm not as important as I thought I was.
About once a day, I've driven 30 minutes into town to check my e-mail and phone messages, worried about what I might be missing at work or in the markets. You know what? It turns out, I'm not that important... and life goes on.
It's been a bit like rehab. I'm detoxing from technology. And it's a good thing... an accidental lesson from Pigeon Forge.
That's the good lesson. The bad lesson is, America is in real trouble.
Our river guide was one of the very few fit people I've seen here. I'd say 90% of the people I've seen are overweight... and many of them obese. If these folks are any indication of the average American, we're in trouble.
I had a hard time finding a gym here in Pigeon Forge. "We're the only gym you can walk into in town," Gina at the desk told me when I asked. Meanwhile, there are several dozen pancake houses in town.
We took our little kids (and the grandparents) to the Disneyland of Tennessee this week... Dollywood. The kids loved it. The grandparents were good sports, joining the kids on just about every ride they tried. The place was close to Disney quality. Not bad! But the people attending Dollywood... whoa! This generation of Americans will, without a doubt, be the first to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
We're heading home today. I'm leaving here with two important lessons... two things that will allow me to lead a longer, "richer" life:
First, I don't need to do the "Blackberry Prayer" – typing messages on my phone – through the day. I particularly want to avoid it around my kids. It can wait. I don't want them to think my phone is more important than them.
Second, I'll set a fitness goal. Like the whitewater guide, I'll get out and do something. If you go with the flow these days – with portion sizes, fast food, convenience stores, pancake houses – you'll get fat, without a doubt. You really have fight against this stuff in America.
Unplugging from technology and pushing back against obesity... these things won't mean more money in your pocket. But living a "rich" life – like the whitewater guide – isn't about how much money you have in the bank. To me, a rich life is making the most of it.
It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"