Warren Buffett: Be Cheap to Get Rich?

I never tire of hearing rehashings of Warren Buffet´s habits that have created and maintained his wealth.

He is not only a master of personal discipline....he is also a master sales person. He uses his frugality to help compel more people to invest in his companies because everyone feels more comfortable investing their hard earned money with someone who values every nickel, than with someone who spends foolishly or carelessly.

Do you agree?

It was Playing Aloud in Public

I had the pleasure, this long Labour Day weekend  (yes in Canada we spell Labour with a u) to meander for a few brief minutes by the waters of Kempenfelt Bay. Although the beaches were busy, they were not insanely so....

Perhaps because of the new parking policy, which charges ¨ out-of-towners¨ a stiff $10.00 per hour for the luxury of parking close to the beach. Or perhaps it is simply because the weather is trending away from crazy hot...to pleasantly mild.

So, today I wanted to mention something I noticed as I walked the board walk in bare feet...swinging my fake berkenstocks in my left hand. I walked by a gent sitting peacefully on a large rock, backpack on his back, sunglasses and bball hat ...gazing into the waters of Kempenfelt Bay. Then I recognized a voice, a familiar male voice. Who could that be? I listened closer, and then realized that it was a narrator, either Alexander Scourby or Max Maclean, speaking in an audio bible version I recognized. What a pleasant surprise. I presumed it was the peaceful gent perched on the rock who was sharing the recording with the public, ..... but really it could have been anyone sitting on the sandy beachside knoll with an audio device or phone on playback mode. I had no interest in staring or disturbing the tranquil moment to bring attention to whomever was sharing the good book. I certainly wanted to say thank you in some way, to acknowledge the courage displayed to play aloud that holy book. However, sometimes.... it is better to just enjoy a special moment than to break the ambience with loud guffaws of gratitude.

You see, churches in Simcoe County, sometimes give the impression of having a line demarcated between what is their´s and what is the public´s. And yet here, on a gentle breeze, on a gentle day, on a gentle sandy beach..... the rich fabric of the Word of God blanketed us all. It wasn´t loud....it wasn´t soft......it was just there. God´s word......unashamed and unabashed....there for us to absorb.

Thank you....back pack guy, or whomever you are, for sharing a great gift. You may be forever anonymous....but your gift was truly appreciated.

from the curly haired lady with the fake birkenstocks.

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The Horror and Beauty of Goal Setting

Alas, I was transfixed....when i finally began to grasp the innate power of setting one´s own goals.

How powerful I felt, that I could write and craft a precious list of life goals, that I could hold tightly and recite aloud daily, and often.

It was liberating....it was the ultimate flex, to emancipate myself....from my own meandering. To harness my artistic soul and force it to form itself into something resembling direction and ambition....and dare, I say......a  career.

That was many years ago. Many goals later..... I proudly was able to assign a few large check marks and gloat at my accomplishments.

To be able to say....with some authority...¨I am going to do this, by this date....." and actually mean it and believe it was possible........was and still is an intoxicating drink.

But now, friends, I also must speak of the horrors of goal setting.

The biggest disappointment of writing down my life goals, was that it was simply not whimsical at all. I had always danced through life....both literally and figuratively......enjoying the surprises and emotional roller coaster that is the common experience of most Canadian women.

I liked not knowing what was coming around the bend. I liked not knowing who I was going to meet. I liked not knowing what I was going to earn. I liked not knowing what I was going to eat.

To then, do a sharp personal turn and declare that I would control my every move in life....in order to accomplish a list of written goals......was, on a certain level.....an unspeakable horror.

How would God surprise me.....if He wasn´t on  my list? How would I fit my family onto my rather lengthy list of personal goals? How would my children´s journeys fit into my own rather complex list of written goals?

Must I always be rewriting my list of goals when I uncover yet another delight in life, that I had not yet written down on paper? How do I include my husband and my friends on this battle weary list? Did they even want to be trapped into my favorite font?

Lord, I do not have the answers. When I think I have the answers.....I feel that the books I must write are many....too many to utter....too thick to describe.

Lord Jesus, how do I dance through life....if I must write every line upon a list? There are no brownie points for the big green check marks on my list. There is only the personal satisfaction....of a fait accompli.

And so now, having uttered these horrid truths...I must run and hide....for I fear I have betrayed....my best friend.....my list.

C,

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