Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shane Claibourne for my Richest People in America project. If you have been reading this blog, you know that each year, I release a list of the REAL Richest People in America, people who are rich because they give. Shane has the distinction of growing up in the East Tennesse town in which I now live (I call it Mayberry or Mitford from Jan Karon’s fictional books of the same name). Anyway, Shane is a radical kind of guy. A student of Tony Campolo for whom I recently wrote and a guy who is shaking up the political world. Part Obama supporter part McCain supporter, this guy and the movement he is leading could shake up the political process with his Jesus for President book tour. Check out the author of Jesus for President on CNN.

I was at a meeting tonight at my church where we discussed starting a new Saturday night service. As we discussed some possibilities, one of the things that came out was designing a service around needs that weren’t be met in other more traditional churches or services. One idea explored was to survery a few people, try some different things, and invite people at some level to give input on creating an experience that would keep them coming back. In that spirit, I’d like to hear from some of you including ”lurkers” who read but NEVER comment on this blog. You know who you are and it’s time to come out of the closet! If you don’t think you are a lurker ask yourself if you have been to the site more than once but you haven’t commented. If that is you, now is your time. What would you like me write about in this blog that fits under the theme of living rich? Would you like personal stories of people living rich in the ways that matter? How about some video clips? or more pictures? A little humor thrown in for good measure? Exerts from my upcoming book? What? Tell me, tell me!

Two more comments: 

 2) I j heard about a new social networking site for charities and charitably inclined individuals. Check it out at IsThereSomethingICanDo.com. It was started by Akon and Peter Buffett, son of Richest Man in America Warren Buffett. Looks like it’s worth a look…even for a lurker!

Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

Now that I am another year older (and wiser of course), I have some observations about living a RICH life. If you have been a reader of this blog, you probably know that when I write about rich I mean money driven and when I write about RICH I mean purpose-driven.

Last Friday, June 6th was my birthday and now that I am as old as Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, I am thinking I should have run for president! Actually, I am probably too dumb to offer much and too smart to want to put my family through what a politicial family experiences.  However, if Barack can talk about things for which he may not fully be knowledgeable, I am going to take that risk When I reach John McCain’s age, I may have the life knowledge but perhaps I won’t have the memory!  So here goes my stroke of insight pondered on my birthday (but NOT in my birthday clothes):

1. Listen. Thursday my wife and I flew to Daytona Beach, FL for the funneral of a 48 year YOUNG man. He was exuberant, intelligent, witty, a brillant musician, a talented dentist and a doting father of two young girls - an infant and a 2 1/2 year old.  Somehow in the midst of everything he had going for him, he felt he had nothing going for him. He took his life one week ago today. As I heard the words spoken about him at his memorial service, saw over 1000 people in attendance, and spoke with his many friends at the reception, I realized that there were probably some people, who IF they had reached out in love and with a listening and helpful ear, his death MAY not of occurred.  Listening to my best friend talk about it recently, I am convinced that listening is the key to many things, including healing.  Listen more. 

2. Go out on a limb.  Friday, I gave a speech to the Vermont Independent Insurance Agents. During the speech, I had an idea of something that would fit perfectly into my Living Rich speech. It was a concept I hadn’t intergrated into the speech before. It was a bit of a risk. I played the ”do it or not” tape in my brain a few times as I was speaking.  I choose “do it” and am glad I did. It worked and added value to a point I was trying to make.  Don’t let a potential fall keep you from going somewhere you haven’t been.

3. Travel the road less traveled.  Traveling to the Basin Habor Club where I gave my speech, the driver took the back roads. We could have traveled via interstate and made our trip a bit quicker.  Had we done that, we would have missed out on a tour through rural Vermont. We would have also missed  hearing some history about this great state.  Today on a bike ride in the rural area surrounding this beautiful place, I saw some incredible scenes and even met a few locals. The road less traveled was paved for me. How about you?

4. Live like you’re dying. Yesterday I met a retired physican. He is 57 years old and has esophageal cancer (which isn’t a cancer you want to have if you have to have cancer). I met Bob and his wife in the healthclub here at the Basin Harbor Club. He exercises everyday and lives an active life.  He bikes, kayaks, explores lakes, rivers and oceans by boat. Over a five year period, he and his wife canoed over 8000 miles across North America. He’s recently taken up golf.  He told me that he wasn’t afraid of death but he wasn’t going to let statistics ruin the life he had left to live. Today is the best someday to start living, particularly IF you feel like you aren’t living now.  

5. Breathe. That’s one reason I am here. To soak in the beautiful mountains and lakes of Vermont. I know there are three things that fuel me: 1) Time with my wife without our kids 2) Tim Time - taking time alone to renew, revitalize, and recreate and 3) Breathing - slowing down and smelling the roses. There’s a sign here at the resort that says “Slow Down and relax”. Nuff said. I’m off for a walk around the lake and back to my cabin on Lake Champlain. 

Note: This post title was inspired by a coment posted by a reader on my post about the Last Lecture.  He recommended I find out about Jill Bolte Taylor and her book My Stroke of Insight. Sounds like a good read. 

 Tim Richardson is an inspirational speaker who speaks about how giving increases employee morale, lowers employee turnover, increases customer loyalty and creates higher profits for Fortune 500 companies, associations, and national conventions. He is the founder of the The Worlds Biggest Blog Party an event which will connect bloggers from all over the world to raise money for charity. He is also founder and president of the Bill Walter Melanoma Research Fund and co-founder of the Jeffrey Roth Cycling Foundation. Click here for more information on professional speaker Tim Richardson.

On the way home from Florida, my family and I stopped in Macon. After a full breakfast at our hotel, we began our journey for home. Along the way, we stopped at Ebeneerer Baptist Church when Dr. Martin Luther King had served as co-paster until his death. Early in 2008, I made a resolution to attend a church different than my own. It was an amazing experience and one in which I write more on later.

I saw a clip this am on FOX News about super model Cindy Crawford and an organization called Thirsty for Change. Click on video of Cindy Crawford if you like to watch Cindy in action (and no, it’s NOT a Sports Illustrated Swim Suit video). It never ceases to amaze me how many cool things people are doing to help others.

I am in Daytona Beach for the 11th annual Bill Walter Melanoma Rayz Awareness run. As I was walking on the beach early Friday morning, I noticed most of the other beach walkers were elderly. I started thinking about how empty it must be to live a life like some of the people I see in communities liek Daytona Beach. When I returned to my friends place, I was watching CNN. There was a short clip about a music group called Young at Heart . If you want to be touched, watch them perform Fix You by Cold Play on YouTube. If you want to laugh, watch them perform, “I want to be Sedated” by the Romanes  or ‘Schizophrenia’ by Sonic Youth.

When I saw these clips, I realized the director of this group was a prime example of a person who does something that he is passionate about. Too bad more elderly people aren’t young at heart. Curious if you know someone who is young at heart. Let me know.

At the beginning of each year, I try to get away and plan for the coming year. This year I had the luxury to accomplish that personally and professional. I’ll write about the experience over the next few days. I started the process by closing my eyes, humming Kumba Ya, and “centering”. Okay, actually I just stood in front of a sliding glass window looking out at the Atlantic Ocean. I took three post it notes and wrote STOP, START, and CONTINUE . Then I asked my self the following questions:

- What do I need to STOP doing that has impeded my past success and accomplishments?

- What do I need to START doing that I am NOT doing that might help contribute to accomplishing my 2008 plan?

- What do I need to CONTINUE doing that worked in the last few years?

Then I just let the ideas flow writing one per Post-It until I could barely see out the window. Along the way, I pondered past years and themes “Back to the Basics, Do Less Better, and Eat Mor’ Chicken (just kidding about Do Less Better). Then I started thinking what does 2008 rhyme with - late, mate, date, bait, separate…nothing there. Then fate, gate, hate….Finally it came, GREAT. My theme is GREAT in 08. Here’s the acronym:

G - Getting Ready

R - Referrals

E - Excellence

A - Attitude

T - Talent management

Mor’ Chicken later…

Inspirational Speaker Tim Richardson writes…

Today was an AWESOME day. I slept like a baby with the windows open and woke up to a quiet cabin in Pomona Park, FL. I slipped out the door and was soon joined by my son on the dock. We watched the morning unfold and listened to the sounds of night become more and more faint until they left with the dark sky. Then the fun started. The Master Craft ski boat roared to life and I watched with pride as my son learned to ski.  As much as I had wanted to be the one to teach him, it didn’t happen after many attempts in the summer of 2007. Just because you can do something with a certain level of competence doesn’t necessarily mean you have the skills (or patience) to be a great instructor. It seemed fitting though that the same person who taught me to ski many years ago also taught my son. Later as we drove away from the lake, we talked about how cool it would be if he also taught my son’s son. Though my daughter didn’t learn as I had hoped, she is now more motivated and wants to learn when the water is warmer (we have “booked” both older kids in the Bill Walter Water Ski Camp for two sessions in 2008!)We spent the day on the lake, eating breakfast and lunch outside. My heart pined for my native Florida as we rode in the boat and even jumped in the lake without wetsuits. After a picture perfect day, we drove to Daytona Beach, my old high school stomping grounds. The most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen stretched from the north end of Daytona to the south. We met my best friend Roger at his parents house and enjoyed a fabulous dinner. My 11 year old cast a line out on the dock, behind Rogers parents home, and caught the biggest fish he’s ever caught. I caught up with Rogers parents as Roger helped my son fish. I heard Rogers parents talk about the day they met (Friday the 13th in 1947). They told of their first date. They also described dancing all night while the band at Chicago’s Glass Slipper tried to play a music for which they didn’t know a dance. We sat outside and watched the night sky until what seemed like forever. Then I relented on my decade ban on Krispy Kreme doughnuts and ate right by the HOT sign with my kids thinking ‘”dad has lost it and we LOVE it!”. Now it’s lights out and I feel a sugar induced coma coming on! Â

Inspirational Speaker Tim Richardson writes…

Merry Christmas! These Indiana University students sing the 12 Days of Christmas unlike anything I have ever heard.

I would love to hear family Christmas traditions (I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours).

I just made $500 dollars. It was so quick and easy that’s it’s almost disgusting. Here’s the story:

I popped into Boyd Thomas, a new clothing shop that opened downtown in my little Mitford. The owner asked me what I did and I told him about my Richest People in America project. He then told me that he had a candidate for me and showed me pictures done by a local artist. This painter does all her work for free. No charge. Nada. Zero. EXCEPT there is one catch. She requests that people who get her paintings donate money to charity.

As “fate” would have it, I happened to have received a letter today from Dreams for Kids founder Tom Tuohy. Tom called me a few months ago and asked that I have a party in E. Tennessee. It’s going to be a small party with one or two other families joining in. We’ll make cookies, sing carols, give out gifts and inspire smiles. I have access to a red Santa suit (Tia are you reading?) which will HOPEFULLY find a bearded, white haired man to call home for a few hours. So IF everything works out, I get to help spend $500.00 to put smiles on kids faces. It will be the most joyous spending I have ever done. How cool will it be to get to spend money on kids who won’t have much of a Christmas without it.

I am not sure what called me into that store but I am convinced that I need to listen to my gut even more after this week. As I was walking in, I thought, I really don’t have time to make this stop. In retrospect, I couldn’t afford not to stop in.