When Opportunity Knocks...

Gasping for air I began the gruesome turn between the first and second switchbacks on 24/7, the trail that scales the mountains behind my house. Although I knew the trial would be hard and would test me physically and mentally, I never thought I would be exhausted in only the first few minutes into my mountain biking escapade.

I’ve had a history of ambitious ideas and plans that I never really made a reality, but recently that has all began to change. I decided I was not going to let past mistakes and failures hinder me from the possibilities in front of me. No matter the size of the task, it is always doable.

As began the third switchback I felt my legs giving out and all energy fading. The third switchback is the worst; it is steep at first then turns to a gradual ascent that scales the mountain towards the top. In an effort to pace myself I stopped for a break about how half way up the steepest part of the third switchback. Bent over my bike I looked at where I had been and dizzily eyed the path in front of me. I then felt my body sway as my legs began losing and I was forced to slowly kneel to the ground.

As my vision blurred and soon went black it was as if I was looking at myself from above. At that moment my entire body lost strength and I fell to the dirt on the side of the path. As I regained my vision I looked again at the steep path to my left and the descent to my right. Unable to move I wondered how long it might take for the next outdoor enthusiast to come along and find me lying on the side of the trail. It was at that instant that I remembered a favorite speech given by Vince Lombardi titled What it Takes to be Number One. His speech starts with the sentence “You’ve got to pay the price.”

Life is like that. Any worthwhile experience has a price to pay. And how much that experience is worth to us is the value of the price we must pay. Although physically I couldn’t move, I pondered the steep hills I have encountered in my life, where I had met adversity and fought it with all my heart. I then thought of those times I had chosen to turn around and ignorantly choose to take the easy way out. I thought of how my family has always been there for me to help lighten the load. I thought of the handful of real friends I have, the ones that have sacrificed so much to see me get through the difficult climbs.
I then remembered Vince’s next words, “ You don’t win once in awhile, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”

I looked at the path to the left, stood up, took a gulp of water and forced my body to continue upward.

The next hour and a half was a mental fight to continue upward despite constant cries from my body for relief, to turn around, to lose. I refused. I was determined to make a habit of winning, a habit of facing each task with my whole heart and relentlessly chasing each goal.

After reaching the top of the mountain looking back at the gruesome trail I had just ascended the end of Vince Lambardi’s speech came to mind.

…I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour-his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear- is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-victorious.

I sat looking at the landscape in front of me with complete joy in where I was. Where I am. Life is full of opportunities to learn, experiences to live, and places to see. That is what makes life so exciting, the constant change. Although the change is hardly ever what we want to happen, it makes growth a never-ending process.

Sometimes life seems like it only goes uphill, but when we push forward through the misery and darkness we slowly begin to see a new light. A light that brightens our hope for the next mountain we will scale. The next chapter of our lives.

Life Insurance: The Final Test

A life policy that is cash surrendered is subject to federal income tax. Which of the following statements is true concerning the taxation of surrender values?

A) The amount received in excess of the total premiums paid is taxable
B) The amount received minus the face amount of the policy is taxable
C) The taxation only applies if the surrender is done during the first 7 years of the policy
D) None of the above

Where do these questions come from? I have studied the book front to back countless times and I don’t remember seeing half these questions. But I know this. Only the earnings are taxed, therefore it has to be… A: the amount received in excess of the total premiums paid is taxable.

After emptying my pockets at the secretaries desk of the Prometric Testing Center I was escorted into a room with five desks against two walls and ten desks in the center of the room. Each desk was in its own cubicle and had a computer. With nothing but scratch paper and a key to my locker in my hand I sat down at the middle desk against the left wall. As I sat down I couldn’t help but notice that they had placed cameras above each desk and every few minutes a proctor would walk through.

An insurance contract that has features of a life policy’s settlement options and is designed as a way for an insurance company to sell savings accounts is called a/an:

A) Policy rider
B) Policy options rider
C) Annuity
D) Variable life

If there was any question I would be scolded for missing, it would be this one. The pride and joy of the insurance industry is Annuities and their ability to not only mix insurance and savings, but to be more profitable than a savings account in every way. C, Annuity.

Although the exam was not the hardest exam I had ever taken, it was certainly the most draining exam I had ever taken. Before I started the test I had already planned to not only take my time on each question, but I would also take my own little “brain break” every 25 questions. At first the questions were difficult but doable. I felt confident going into question 16, but then it steadily got harder, until I reached question #30 where I felt every question probing deep into my understanding of the material. I felt like each question drained me more and more.

In order to avoid a taxable event when replacing one life policy with a different policy, which of the following must be done?
Complete the 1035 exchange form
Request exchange privileges at the time of application for the new policy
Make all money transfers directly to the new policy
All of the above

If I’m wrong on this one then so be it. I know that completing a 1035 exchange will avoid taxes, but so will making transfers directly into the new policy. Maybe its all the above, but B doesn’t fit the description. Here goes nothin, A, complete the 1035 exchange form.

Just over half way through the test I was getting exhausted. As I read the question it didn’t even seem to register. I couldn’t seem to get past the way the guy next to me seemed to be pounding on the keyboard, I think he was taking a GRE test, in any case he was making it extremely difficult for me to focus on my test. If only he would type more quietly like the person behind me. Once I noticed the earmuffs hanging on the wall beside me I eagerly put them on and instantly enjoyed the silence.

The questions seemed to ease up once I got to question 80, at that point I knew I only had about 25 questions left so I took my time on each question. At that point in the test I knew it would be close if I did pass, so I didn’t want to rush through it. After the final questions I went back and reviewed the questions that I didn’t feel confident about my answers.
Eager to be done with the test I was tempted to click the link that said “end exam”, but I didn’t want to miss out on a question that I could have gotten right had I reviewed. After I was done reviewing I nervously clicked the “end exam” link. Then, as I read the score breakdown of the exam, to my astonishment and relief it said, “PASS”.

After leaving the testing room and going to the front office to get my certification I felt completely drained. The secretary kept asking me questions about applying for my insurance license. All I remember is that I couldn’t answer any questions that didn’t apply to life insurance, annuities, or insurance taxes. Undoubtedly they were confused at how some one like me could pass an insurance exam when I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to apply for the license or not.

Exhausted and mentally drained I walked out of the testing center with joy I had not felt in months and a re-enforced confidence in my future.

This weeks Obsession

WAKA WAKA



If you are as eager as I was to understand what the song is all about I found a good explanation of the song from what could be considered a bad source (Wiki), but I still really enjoyed the explanation of the meaning, origin, and relevance to the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
http://hubpages.com/hub/world-cup-song-waka-waka

Sunny Day

Sometimes music is the best way to describe our feelings. And although my "ghetto life" is referring to a much different lifestyle than what Akon and Wyclef refer to, the euphemism is still the best way to describe where I have been and where I am now.

Day 10: Messina, Italy

Back in Italy I could feel the warm smiles and love for life every Italian seems to have. I must say that my excitement didn’t exactly match the enthusiasm of our driver and guide, but I still managed to fake it long enough until I was.

Although the city of Messina is beautiful today it has a somewhat tragic history. In 1908 an earthquake struck the city killing nearly all of the 100,000 inhabitants. Today it resembles all of Italy in its unique historic looking 3 story buildings throughout the city.

Unfortunately Messina has little to offer tourist, so we drove about an hour to the city of … to visit theaters and castles built thousands of years ago. The first stop was the Greeks first built the intricately designed theater in the 2nd century. But soon enough the Romans conquered the Island and added the famous Roman arches and built tiger cages for the gladiator matches they held in the theaters. At last the Arabs captured the island and destroyed the theater and what remains today are ruins from each of the periods.

Not only were the people amazing but as always the food and especially the gelato was delicious. Our drivers English seemed to be better than our guides, but she kind and diligent in giving us the best experience possible while in Sicily. Although I loved the people and they had much to offer, I couldn’t get my mind off of the experience in order to learn from the people.

The morning of disembarking my mother came down with a sickness that quarantined her to the cruise room, so the rest of the family went without her. From the moment we piled into the Mercedes van for the tour it felt like something wasn’t right. From the time we set foot off the boat a mysterious feeling lingered throughout the day. There were no more eye rolling jokes, no more random questions about some seemingly unimportant detail, and no more mom.

It was then that I realized what our family would be like with out her. What I would be without her. It was as if the life of the family was sucked from us. Without our mother our family would fall apart. She brings smiles, energy, and love to our family.

We love our mother, she is the glue that holds our family together.

Day 7 and 8: Alexandria, Egypt

Coming into the harbor of Alexandria was a very different sight than any of the other harbors we visited in the Mediterranean. First off the harbor was huge, it served the 6 million people of Alexandria and upwards of 30 million more people in the other cities nearby. It was smoggy and hot, which could be expected of a city in the desert, but it took most of us by surprise when they told us the average temperature is 45 degrees Celsius.

Our first day in Egypt was packed, we were off the boat and on our way to Cairo at 7:30 am. I had no idea what to expect during our three-hour trek through the desert, but I’m glad I wasn’t expecting much. Every now and then you would see a restaurant on the side of the road for those making the journey to Cairo, but for the most part it was wide-open dessert with a few farms and private houses.

Entering the city outskirts of Cairo I could already see the outline of the massive 4,500 year old pyramids miles away. The pyramids of Giza lie just outside the city limits and can be seen for miles in all directions. Although they have discovered 138 pyramids in Egypt, only about 19 of them remain to be seen. The rest have all been destroyed by the elements.

I felt small walking towards the giant pyramids, it was as if each stone grew before my eyes. As we began circling the first pyramid I noticed a tall, broad, dark suited man following our family everywhere we went. At first I thought nothing of it and continued towards the burial site of the pharaohs wife. We descended deep into the small pyramid where we entered the empty room that had long since been plundered by grave robbers.

After returning to the surface I noticed the dark suited stranger was still watching us, I asked one of the guides that was with us what who he was and he explained to me that every guided group in Egypt is given a special forces bodyguard. Although he was with us the entire day, I never really saw a need for his protection.

We then rode camels out in to the Sahara for a final panoramic view of the 3 Giza pyramids. From this view it was much easier to see how the elements had slowly eroded the smooth limestone casing stones that had originally covered the entire pyramid.

Our guides then took us around the outskirts of the city 22 million people call home. I saw huge red brick apartment buildings that were in the process of being built across the street from houses that were falling apart. The streets were lined with trash; the canal built for the farmers was brown and full of trash. We drove past farmers on donkeys pulling carts full of grain and children would smile as they ran along side.

The greatest lesson learned from the Egyptians was that life is not all about who can acquire the latest expensive toy, it is about the life we build for ourselves. It is our perception on life, it is making the most of the life given to us. The people of Egypt are happy with their best friends around them. They are happy when they stay close to their family. They were happy despite the lack of modern conveniences. They were happy serving others. They have filled their lives with the most priceless items available to all. Love.