Provoke Our Money Mind with Stories - How to Call the Police

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I read this story today and although it presents a funny story on the surface, I found this very inspiring for us in the personal finance world! I will share with you some thoughts I have below, but first the story.

George Phillips of Meridian, Mississippi was going up to bed when his wife told him that he’d left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to go turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing things.

He phoned the police, who asked “Is someone in your house?” and he said “no”. Then they said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be along when available. George said, “Okay,” hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. “Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don’t have to worry about them now cause I’ve just shot them all.” Then he hung up. Within five minutes three police cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up at the Phillips residence and caught the burglars red-handed. One of the Policemen said to George: “I thought you said that you’d shot them!” George said, “I thought you said there was nobody available!” (True Story)

Here are a couple points that relate to personal finance for us to think about.

1. There is always a risk with everything. In the case of George in this story, he told a little lie in order to have the burglars arrested. In hindsight, what he did was brilliant. However, if the burglars left by the time the police show up, George would be in big trouble. There is always a risk in doing everything. Just like this article when I talked about investing in the long term. There are tons of risks about investing in stocks. As a matter of fact, that’s probably why people even have any money anywhere else. However, long term investors should trust that the short term risks are worth it, since stocks performance is better than any other investment vehicles.
2. Do not take no for an answer and stick with what you believe in! In life, you are always going to encounter objections. In our story, George did not take no for an answer from the police because he truly believes the burglars need to be caught. Just a month ago, I wrote about how I was so unmotivated in saving money (http://moneyning.com/personal/how-did-anyone-get-over-the-major-expenses-in-life/). I felt like the money I have saved through the years was for nothing. I couldn’t really afford a house, and I felt bad just thinking about all the money I need to spend in the next 12 months. Even though I felt bad, I kept on saving because I still believed saving and investing is the way to financial freedom. Finally, realizing the great performance of my financial portfolio while I was writing my net worth update post last week totally changed my outlook! Now, I am so much more motivated and focus, which allowed me to feel optimistic about my retirement goal!
3. Learn to show people your point! There are many lazy and selfish people in this world these people won’t spend much time on you if they don?? think you are worth it. It is not up to them to recognize that you are worth the time, but up to you to show them. In the end, you still need to earn the dollar before you can choose to save it. Blogs like this can only show you how to best save that dollar, but you still need to market yourself to earn it.