Get On With Creating The Life You Want

I had a guy who embezzled several hundred thousand dollars from me. I'm not going to go into the specifics of the situation, but because of the fact that he did it to some other people, the law may still settle the score differently than things look right now. I have no idea.

This I do know. I did some business dealings with the man, and he presented himself in a position of honesty, integrity, counseling, and advice. I accepted him at face value—he did come highly recommended from someone I respected. And then it turns out that he was doing fraudulent things, unlicensed things. To put it bluntly, he was a con artist.

And I was one of his victims. I trusted him. In fact, I even have a note that I found, where I said to my kids, "In case I die, you can trust this guy."

It happened to me…What can I say? And while I’m no Harvey MacKay or Donald Trump, by most standards I’m considered pretty business savvy…

Cons depend on trust – that’s what makes their scams work… The word “con” of “con man” comes from the word “confidence”. They’re a unique breed. You don’t have to worry about a gun… But the result may be the same…

Phew! He stole from me, and he stole from a lot of others. The trial hasn't come up at this point. But I recently talked to the chief prosecutor and the state Attorney General, and it does look like he's fleeced maybe two to three dozen people.

I was one of them, and it was a pretty big sum.

Then they tried to enlist me to go after the man! You know what? I was thinking, "The money's already gone." He did have a penchant for extravagant vacations, for eating out at high-quality restaurants, and he did have a high-maintenance woman that he was keeping.

(Of course, I was assuming he was making the money to fund these activities legitimately… Many, many do, you know…)

But the reality is… As he demonstrates… The “show” of wealth is not the same thing as real wealth… I thought he had millions… Yet he didn’t even have enough to make his own bail!!

And so considering all this, in my opinion, the money's gone. I'm not going to get the money back. No thank you, Señor, I do not want to fight with this individual. It's just a test. It's an issue, all right—nobody wants to lose that kind of money. If you're like me, money's a factor in just about every decision you make.

If I can go to Wal-Mart and get the gym equipment and supplies that I need, well, I'm going to go to Wal-Mart and get it, because it's going to be 20-40% cheaper than going to the specialty store. Right?

Nobody's saying I don't want money and the value of money. What I'm saying is, fighting this guy isn’t going to be a winning proposition. I already know that. But it sure could be a case of much stress, tension, and bitterness. I don’t want any of those in my life, especially when I’m certain it won’t result in getting my money back.

No, I'm not going to get involved. I don't have to. He's in jail, and has been for several months. Huh! Do you think karma's already catching up with him? And he does have a string of very angry investors that he's done the same thing to who are full of spit and venom and have revenge in their hearts wresting the peace they could otherwise enjoy from their days!

And he does have officials in his state who are not on his side. They're sorting and sifting the evidence, building a case against him.

Do you think he's getting his karma? Do you think I need to add to it? No, because that's the way karma is. Yes, I got taken. Yes, it was my own fault. Yes, that wasn't everything that I had, yes, yes, yes.

Here's the whole thing—you will always have adventures in life. You can't always control the outcomes, and yes, bad things will happen to you, and sometimes it's your priest, or your counselor, or your missionary who does it. Sometimes it's your spouse. Sometimes this stuff happens when you'd least expect it.

But it still comes down to the fact that it's your life. It's your time—what are you going to do with it? Let the suckers write out their own destiny. Don't get involved with them. There's an old saying that goes something like this: "Don't argue with a fool, because if someone from the outside sees you arguing, they're not going to know who's the fool and who's not."

When something bad happens, cut your losses and recuperate. As the esteemed philosopher, Jesus, says, “Shake the dust off your feet and go on to the next town.” No big deal. It was a test; get on with creating the life that you want. You have so much more in you than the bitterness, the anger, the hatred, the lawsuit, the lost time, and the lost productivity that a lot of people take for granted in this culture.

I say, hey, why don't you be part of our culture—the winners, the achievers, the responsible ones, and create the world as you would have it?