Tony’s Daily Success Tip #3

Who comes first…?
Whenever we fly on a major airline before the plane takes flight the flight attendant gives emergency landing instructions, it goes something like this- “Should the aircraft encounter disturbance or a drop in cabin pressure an oxygen mask will drop from the ceiling, please place the mask over your nose and mouth tighten the straps an either side and proceed to breathe normally- for those of you with children, remember to place YOUR mask on FIRST- then your child’s…” The reason for this is obvious, if you don’t get that oxygen into your brain FIRST you may pass out and therefore in the long run you will have been of no help to the child you love and care for. My parents spend their lives doing their best for my brothers and me at the expense of their own financial education and therefore, although they provided a loving home and taught us good work ethic, to be hardworking and ethical. They could not teach us what they did not know – So, we learned by WATCHING and WORKING with them – they taught us to get jobs, (doing ANYTHING even if we hated it) to always be listening and learning from others we were working for because we could always learn something from anyone- and it was obvious they knew something we had to learn- To work harder than anyone else (meaning, as hard as we could) to save money, to ALWAYS pay our debts on time, to utilize financing even HIGH interest financing when necessary to accomplish our goals, to become friends with as many people in our community as possible, the Mayor as well as the garbage man or mailman- to treat EVERYONE with respect and dignity, to become home owners as soon as possible, and to find a way to buy and own SOME NOT ALL little inexpensive rental properties to help us become financially stable and protect ourselves from the unexpected financially. Why? So we would learn to discover our God given ability to forever be independent AND from being a financial burden to others. Those were good lessons that served us well; something that would become extremely important to us in later years.
Now, have I always conducted myself with the utmost integrity, honored all I learned from my folks, been proud of my own behavior? Not hardly! But I do my BEST to be a burden to no one; now or in the future. That is the commitment I have made to myself – What’s yours?!
One last point- I understand that we as individuals do not as yet understand our God given limitless abilities and true self-worth. Please keep in mind that although the words I write can sometimes be strong and very direct, remember that as I write them there is no judgment of YOU in them, as I must FIRST always read what I write with my own eyes. So, these words are first and foremost directed at ME and for my benefit, AS IN MANY WAYS WE ARE NO DIFFERENT. As Guy Finley has always reminded us – “The Truth is like medicine- it taste bitter but it heals…”
Try to see that we ALWAYS have the option to choose to live our lives as victims and out of control or we can put our efforts and focus on doing what is under our control and be well with what is not- the trick is to SEE through our minds perpetual lying stories and excuses that keep us a prisoner of our negative thinking and our agreement to continue to punish ourselves. We, YOU, have no limitations; save those our thoughts have deceived us into believing are real and true. Be well.