Storms And Sanity

I was watching a special on the vulnerability of Miami to hurricanes. It unnerved me a bit as I just helped my daughter, son in law and granddaughter get settled there. On this special a "young" man was interviewed who said, "I don't even have insurance on my house". Excuse me, but my thought was, "what an idiot"! Why, because I have seen the devastation of a hurricane. Once this young man sees the effects of a category 4 or, God forbid, 5, he will take a totally different perspective. The storm will bring him to sanity. I live 100 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and 100 miles from the Atlantic. I live in a rural area surrounded by a forest and on the edge of a beautiful little lake. I had thought of getting a generator before but then I thought, "why should I spend the money, I'm too far away from the ocean to affect me". Then, 2005 came. I had back to back storms that took out 3 or 4 giant oak trees in my yard that barely missed my house. I was without power for 4 days in one storm and 2 days in another. In the country, when you are without power, you are without everything. No lights, no water and no flushing! I bought a generator. The storm brought me to sanity. I was willing to pay the price.



My son Shane sent me an article by a business leader entitled, "Does integrity pay"? The question that business leaders were debating was brought on by the bottom line. In truth, the storm of our current financial woes have brought them to a place of sanity in saying that yes, integrity does pay. Please understand that when men are swimming in money and prosperity is easy to get, these kinds of questions are rare in the business world. In those times the prevailing thought is that "the end justifies the means". Whatever it takes! No so today. Business leaders, politicians and even clergymen are asking tough questions like, "what does it take to keep us from failing"? Are there certain fundamental principles that we have compromised, like prosperity, that has led to our present situation?



These are good times. These times of stormy and uncertain futures make us all stop and take inventory and hopefully regain our sanity.