Pat: "So, let me ask you something... Hypothetically...
If I was your rich uncle Pat, and I died and left you a fortune in my will, but the fortune would have a "catch", would you be interested?"
Midnight: (All Midnight cared about at the time was MONEY) "Yes, Pat, I'd be interested. What's the catch?"
Pat: "I'll get to the catch in a second, but first let me tell you about the inheritance – it would be $86,400.00 per day, every day, for the rest of your life... well over $31 million per year."
Me: "Oh, I'd definitely be in... what's the catch??"
Pat: "Well the catch is this; It's EXACTLY $86,400 per day... not one penny more and not one penny less. It goes directly into your bank account every night. The REAL catch is that you have to SPEND every penny of it EVERY DAY. You can't save any of it. You can only SPEND it. If say on Thursday, you only managed to spend $83,000, you'd have to forfeit the other $3,400, and then Friday, you get another $86,400... the "leftover $3,400" does not get tacked on.
Me: With visions of $15 million personal jets, and 300 ft yachts in my head... "Pfffft, THAT would be EASY... I could EASILY spend $86,400 per day".
Pat: "You sure about that?? Let's think... let's think about what you would do with $86,400 per day... $86,400 per day that you COULD ONLY SPEND and NEVER save. So, tell me, what would you spend it on? It's DAY 1... exactly $86,000 has just been deposited into your bank account... what's the FIRST thing you're going to do with it?"
Me: "Well, the first thing I'd do is to pay off all my debt..."
Pat: "GREAT! You'd pay off your debt, that's great. Debt is NO GOOD. So, would you be able to do that with your first $86,400?"
Me: "Including my mortgage? No, I'd have to pay MOST of my debt off on Day 1, then the rest of it with some of Day 2's money."
Pat: "GREAT! So it's now day 2, you are FREE AND CLEAR. What are you gonna spend it on now?"
Me: "Well, I'd probably take day 2's money and put money down on a new house, a bigger one, better neighborhood"
Pat: "GREAT! You'd immediately invest in Real Estate... plus, you'd then have a bigger/better place to live. Great! Now comes day 3. What are you gonna do with THAT money?"
Me: "Ferrari"
Pat: "Really? Great! Ferrari's are great.I actually have a few. So now it's Day 3 of this deal, you have NO outstanding debt, you have a brand new house and a brand new Ferrari. You're stylin' and profilin' Day 4 is coming. What's next??"
Me: "Well, at that point, I'd probably pay off my parents' house for them.."
Pat: "Really? You'd do that for your parents? That's GREAT! You're a great guy for taking that burden off your parents' plate. So Midnight, then after hookin your parents up like that, whattaya do on Day 5?
Me: "Well, Pat, I'd go back to me! A new boat."
Pat: "Awesome! A boat. So, Midnight you can sorta see where this is going, right? You're not even done with the first week of this deal, a deal that goes for the rest of your life and ALREADY you have a new house, a new car, a new boat, and your parents are free and clear on their house. So tell me what would happen in week 2?"
Me: "Well, I'd probably buy a few more houses and cars."
Pat: "Great! A fleet of cars and houses all over the world. ow how about week 3"
Me: "Well, I'd travel."
Pat: "GREAT! Ok, so a month in and you've been around the world, probably will plan to do it again, new houses, new cars, no debt, parents looked after and only ONE month down. You have every day for the rest of your life with this deal, so then what?"
Me: "I'd start looking after my friends…"
Pat: "GREAT! So now after 3 months or so, you can see that you'd have EVERYTHING you could ever want. Plus all your family and friends would be taken care of. THEN WHAT?"
Me: (Thinking hard through the list... cars? check. Houses? check. Boats? Check. Planes? Check. Travel? Check. Family? Check. Friends. Check.) "Well Pat, at THAT point, I'd probably look for research organizations in medicine and other worthwhile endeavors that are in need of money."
Pat: "GREAT! You're really a giving guy! I mean, you'd take care of yourself pretty well, but you'd also GIVE some of this fortune to family, friends, and others that you deem worthwhile, right? You'd also splurge and have some parties and celebrations along the way, right?"
Me: "Right." (confused and not having a clue WHERE he is going with this)
Pat: "So correct me if I'm wrong, Midnight, but no matter how many days passed by, no matter what, you would ALWAYS find a use for your daily $86,400, correct? I mean, you'd never lay your head down to sleep saying to yourself "$5,000 left today... I'll just forfeit that, there's more coming tomorrow" You'd NEVER do that, right? You'd ALWAYS find something worthwhile to either spend or invest that full $86,400 in every single day, wouldn't you??"
Me: "Absolutely. I'd be able to put every dime of it to use every day."
Pat: "That's interesting... You know what else is interesting? The number 86,400. To me, THAT is the most interesting number in the universe. See, each one of us gets EXACTLY 86,400 of seconds of life every single day. 60 second per minute X 60 minutes per hour x 24 hours per day = 86,400 seconds... 86,400 precious seconds of life that we can ONLY spend or invest and NEVER can save. Now when it's 86,400 hypothetical dollars, we'd FIND a way to spend or invest every BIT of that money, every single day. Problem is that we don't always have the same reverence for our TIME, even though every second of your life is worth more than a lousy buck, isn't it?"
Think about this story. THINK of the details, but What would YOU spend the money on and what DO you spend your time on? Who do you ALLOW to waste it?? Do YOU waste it?? Which has more value, your time or money? Who, where and what do you invest your 86,400 seconds of life on today... tomorrow... the next day... YESTERDAY... the day before? How much of that is an investment, and how much of it is spent frivolously?
Since that day, I've realized that every second of my life is a gift. A gift that I can either spend/invest wisely OR I can waste. One thing is for sure... once each individual second comes and goes... ITS GONE FOREVER and you can NEVER GET IT BACK, so I make sure I don't waste ONE. Every single second of my life is something that I can assure is spent or invested wisely, on myself, or on someone/something I care about and NEVER frivolously wasted.
Think about it. I leave you to your fate...
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Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment - this day - is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day - each moment of this day - a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity.
~Dan Custer
Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment - this day - is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day - each moment of this day - a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity.
~Dan Custer
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