Life Lessons From a "Cash Poor Millionaire": Day 2

You know I've written two of these posts so far as well as countless journal entries, and notes to myself past, present, and future. I always find that the hardest part comes at the beginning. It comes when you sit down, and attempt to gather your thoughts from the complex highways of your spongy brain. It comes when you must focus all your energy on producing the first word, the first idea.. the first sentence. To put it quite simply. The hardest part is the start.

Yes, yes I'm sure many can agree with me that the start is where most people fail. They overthink about "This. That. And The Other.". They are so focused on making the right move that they make no move at all. In a sense it's as if the start is paralyzing to many. Never allowing them to reach the moutaintop because they never step onto the mountain in the first place.

I'm not here to talk about that today. At least not in the sense you may have guessed from my rambles so far. No my friends I'm here to talk about the start that comes after the fall. The one that comes at the bottom, but first I'll have to bring you along to a lunch of mine.

Not too long ago I had a lunch with a man who is quite older than me. I call him my friend, but in a more real sense he is a mentor. Of course we talked about "Destiny", "Faith", and what was to come. I shared my exciting news, and he shared his big annoucements regarding the success of his business. Eventually we arrived to the end of the hour lunch, and it was time to say goodbye.

I have grown very fond of this man, and have come to appreciate his insight and wisdom. Before standing up to leave he seemed troubled. Like something was at the edge of his mind waiting to jump off onto the tip of his tongue, and out into the world for my ears to hear. Knowing this I let silence fill the conversation. When he had gathered his thoughts he looked up at me, and said "I hope you succeed. I really do, and whether you do or don't... remember to have your "Now What's" ready."

Obviously I was intrigued by his vague statement, and of course he elaborated based off my facial reaction. "When one thing ends whether it's a success or a failure you must always ask yourself the question. "Now What?"."

He then told me a story about his days in the "Air Force". He was a pilot, and during onboarding they would show a video of another pilot in training, who while flying, was spinning out of control. He had a series of different protocals to go through in the event this happened. In the video as the pilot spins toward the ground... toward what would be his ultimate demise. Not once did he ever stop asking his control tower one simple question. "Now What?". He went through every single option, and never stopped trying to escape the eventual death waiting for him at the bottom of his flight.

Calling me by my name he said with a sort of calm, yet cryptic voice. "You must never stop asking "Now What?" because once you do you have set yourself up for failure. Failure to plan is planning to fail."

As he told the story I could see the pilot. I wondered what he must've been thinking. Did he think of his money, or did he think of his family? Did he think of his military rank, or of his brothers in arms? Did he think "Have I lived, or was I just alive?"...

Of course he had to leave me with a "life lesson" from his own time on earth. As I drove home I couldn't help, but walk myself through my own "test flight". I reminisced on my own life.

Every dark valley I've walked through. Did they start with a "Now What?"... I know the climb starts with a "Now What?". Every time I landed in the dark valley well that was usually a "Now What?" moment, but how did I fall? Haven't I been asking "Now What?" for years? How did I fall? Why do I fall?

His lesson sparking a new revelation. What are the words that bring the fall, and the failure, and the surrender that put me at the bottom. They are simple. "It. Is. What. It. Is".

A lot of people like to say this in a cool easy going statement. It can mean this in some cases, but in all cases it means one thing. Acceptance. Whether you're a success or failure as soon as you accept what you have as "good enough"... well you stop moving. You stop the climb. You stop asking "Now What?"

Isn't this the goal? Isn't this the reason we climb the mountain? To eventually reach the top, and rest while looking down on all that we've accomplished?

I guess in that moment I realized that every "Now What?" moves you closer to the one that will be your last. After all everyones test flight hits the ground eventually. However, most won't have the guts or the spirit to reach they're final "Now What?".

Instead they'll stop on the mountain, and choose to rest. They'll stay at the bottom, and urge others to climb it because it's easier that way. They'll look at what they already have instead of climbing for what they're meant to have. They'll watch others climb, and say "It is what it is.". They'll hear others fall, and see them decide again, and again to climb or to stop. They'll become a "what if".

When I got home I looked in the mirror, and asked myself "Are you okay if you miss your mark? What will you say if you fall?" I'll say the same thing I'm telling you to say next time the rent is due, and you have no money. The same thing that you should say when life wins the battle, and tempts you to forfeit the war.

Now. What.

This life has won many battles against me, and it will win many more. Before I became a "cash poor millionaire" I was already rich. Rich in the mind. Rich in the spirit. Rich in "Now What's?". Never stop asking the question...

There is always a way.

Even when you don't see it.