An Unfortunate Fortune (Craft A Steward’s Mindset)
An Unfortunate Fortune (Craft A Steward’s Mindset)
In 2016, Crystal Tanner became obsessed with a house she saw in an online video. The home was part of a fundraising raffle put on regularly by St. Jude’s Hospital. She would watch the video of the interior over and over. Ms. Tanner could not get the thought out of her mind that if she was going to build the perfect house it would look something like this:
She maxed out her credit cards to be able to buy as many $100 raffle tickets as possible. In a classic case of being careful what you wish for, she won the house. On the surface, this seemed an amazing turn of events. Ms. Tanner is disabled, cannot work, and at the time was on a fixed income.
A lot of people don’t know that anytime you get something through a raffle or gameshow the government considers that a windfall and taxes you to the max. Ms. Tanner would have to pay $180,000 in taxes or lose the house. Unfortunately, she was unable to secure a loan to cover the amount because she was on disability. Even if by some miracle she could have pulled the cash together that she needed, the upkeep and yearly property taxes would have forced the same result. She won the raffle but lost her dream. This may seem like an isolated story but this happens all the time because of bad decisions on incomplete information.
YOLO If You Got It!
Ok, so I am crossing the streams on two different concepts here that kind of mean the same thing. People will often justify their behavior by saying that you only live once, or enjoy your money when you are young instead of waiting until you are old. Believe me, I understand that life passes by very quickly. It seems like just yesterday my wife gave birth to our first child. If you think about it for a little bit, the fact that things move so quickly should have the opposite effect on your actions.
Instead of having a “consequences be damned” attitude, a stewardship mindset is a better call. Why? Because every day that passes your responsibilities will grow, not lessen. Even if you don’t have a family to worry about, your energy and drive may drop off with age. At a minimum, you will have to take care of yourself. You won’t always have the ability to shake off those bad decisions. Building your legacy doesn’t have to be for anyone else either. There is a sense of satisfaction from creating something that lasts. It is an end unto itself.
Be Kind To Your Future Self
No one is guaranteed tomorrow but if I was a betting man I would say we are both going to be here (and for many years to come). That means that we want to do everything we can to enjoy our lives today, while at the same time building something for the future. The tension between those two ends of the spectrum is the entire game.
