"If you can make one heap of all your winningsThe other day I was watching a program on TV. They were interviewing Carl Payne, one of the main characters on the Martin sitcom. He was working as a car salesman in LA, and from the line of questioning, I could tell that the interviewer was trying to make it seem like he'd fallen from grace ("How do you go from Martin to this?").
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;" - Excerpt from If by Rudyard Kipling
I thought Carl Payne's response was brilliant: "I love what I do, but more importantly I have a family to feed and there's no shame in honest work and taking care of your family." Brilliant.
Nowadays, I'm noticing that a lot more celebrities and athletes are going broke. It seems like every few years Toni Braxton is bankrupt; Terrell Owens just petitioned a judge to reduce his $40,000/month child support payments because he couldn't afford it and I'm sure this NBA lockout will likely produce a few more. So I was very inspired to read this article about basketball couples who are changing their financial strategy in preparation for the lockout. It sounds like they'll be one of the success stories.
I know it's annoying to regular Joes like you and I who live on substantially less incomes to understand how someone with a multi-million income could be broke. But it's not the situation itself, but how you respond to the situation that determines the outcome. Most of these bankruptcies are a result of poor financial management, not how much money they earn.
But you even after a financial crisis, you can rebound and rebuild. It is up to you and your attitude. Will you be a Carl Payne or a Toni Braxton?
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