Truffie: The Amazing Dog

Today was the day that our dear family member and German Shepherd, Truffie passed away in his sleep.  

He was 12 years young.

I can't describe the depth of pain I feel at this very moment.  I don't think it has really sunken in yet.  Perhaps I'm still in shock.  

We will bury him tomorrow morning in his favorite spot in the backyard.  It's where he used to bark at neighboring dogs and imitate the sound of a fire engines as they went by.  

He was a very active and intelligent dog.  I sometimes thought he was a human trapped in a dog's body.

From the time he was a pup with those lovely, little button hook ears until his remaining days on Earth, he has always captured our hearts.  

We named him Truffie, because his muzzle, when we got him at 11 weeks old, resembled a chocolate truffle.  

We thought the name Truffie would be more endearing that just truffle or truffles.

I can't thank him enough for all he has done for me.  I have become a stronger and more compassionate person because of him.

He has certainly brought our family together.

He lived a very lucky and extremely happy life.  We are proud to have provided that for him.

He was a confidant, a loyal training partner and, most of all, my best friend.  

I will miss him dearly, as will the rest of our family.

Rest in peace, old friend.  See you soon.

A Moment of Silence

September 11th, 2001 will be a day no one in the world will ever forget.  The invincible became vincible.  As the economy took a dip, people also questioned their own security.  I remember my dad yelling at me to move to China, where he still currently resides.  Sounds pretty ridiculous, right?  At the time, it did.

Now?  Doesn't sound like a bad idea anymore.  As we bow our heads in reverence on this day, we also need to ask ourselves some real heavy questions.  If you've noticed, our country has been on an economic decline ever since, for the most part.

So what questions should we ask?  If the economy doesn't look like it's really getting better, shouldn't we take a look around for opportunities to thrive?  I attended a trading class the other day and some of the faculty were talking about moving to Singapore in a few years.  Is it unpatriotic?  I don't think so.  After all, if everyone was so patriotic hundreds of years ago, there really wouldn't be a United States of America, would there?

What about those that don't want to leave, is there still hope?  Many claim that the US will be a 3rd world country in the next 15 years or sooner.  We also must ask ourselves, if we were to stay, can we still thrive?

Without complicating the issue, one must look at history.  During every recession, there have been people that have prospered.  This is not at any person's expense.  It was simply that these individuals knew what to do during these times.  So if we can learn from those that have had success during our country's darkest periods, wouldn't that be helpful?

Of course!  So what was one thing that stood out among these wealthy folks?  It was that they understood true supply and demand.  Not just on a national scale, but on a global one.  I won't go over any case studies here, because I feel we are all intelligent enough to inquire that on our own.  Not only that, I didn't want to stray from the big picture.

Now comes the biggest question, what is the current demand?  Not just for the US, but for the rest of the world?  What if there was a way to supply this ever growing demand?  Wouldn't we logically succeed and help others to also do so?  While it does make sense, we as humans unfortunately overcomplicate things.  Our thoughts and beliefs has led us to this very point in time.  If we aren't happy with our results, shouldn't we be open and listen to a possible solution?

Last Quarter

Last quarter of 2011 will have no quarter for those that don't invest into themselves.  I spoke to many people today regarding a project and resources that will lead to financial freedom.  It boggled my mind, at first, to hear the excuses, as just the other day these same people were complaining about their finances, relationships and health.

Then...it hit me.  I was one of those people.  I must have compassion and see all the positive and wonderful things that can come out of the resources they have.  They can live an extraordinary life!  After all, if my mentors didn't do that for me, I wouldn't have a paradigm shift and a new found energy for working towards my dream.  Who was I to write off anybody?  I should help them.  However, we can not help people who truly don't want help.

These are the same people that not willing to truly stretch beyond their comfort zone, so they can expand their eventual realm of comfort with abundance.  Tomorrow after a night of "facebooking" (yes, that is now a verb), they will go to work or work on something that deep inside they know is dead-end.

Now, if it's a passion they have, like working at a youth center, that's awesome.  I'm talking about things people do just to make money (only to get taxed more should they decide to get a second job).  The people I'm referring to had no passion in their voice.  I know they are above that and deserve better.  I truly see greatness in them.

We are all worthy to get the things we want.  Why play it so miserably safe when we only got one life?  Let's not beat ourselves up over all the wrong choices, regrets and mistakes that we made.  What we have is not years of failure, but years of experience.  A really good friend and mentor recently said that.  I'm really glad he did.

All the World's a Stage

Life is what we make of it...we're the directors.