RPF0483-This_Too_Shall_Pass
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00:00:29.800 | Once upon a time in the middle of the summer toward evening when the air was clear, the
00:00:36.680 | sky bright and the dimmed sun setting, a great king was sitting in his palace roof garden.
00:00:43.680 | He took enormous pleasure from the sight before his eyes as he overlooked the ancient city.
00:00:49.240 | As he looked at people walking back and forth, he noticed a simple man, not from the royal
00:00:53.520 | family, all dressed from head to toe with golden clothes.
00:00:58.440 | He sent his messengers to summon the man.
00:01:01.200 | When the man came and stood in front of him, the king asked, "Where did you get all this
00:01:05.280 | gold?
00:01:06.400 | Are you a highway robber and a murderer?"
00:01:09.440 | The man replied, "No, I would never do such a thing.
00:01:11.920 | I am working with both my hands and I earn my livelihood with manual labor."
00:01:17.000 | He continued, "I am an excellent silversmith.
00:01:20.960 | It is well known that our great city is considered to be the wealthiest city in the world and
00:01:24.920 | people come to trade here from the four corners of the earth.
00:01:28.540 | Every day kings, ministers, and wealthy merchants come to our great city.
00:01:32.880 | One has a broken ring, another a broken watch, and all of them come to me to repair these
00:01:37.680 | items and I return them as new."
00:01:40.080 | The king put his arm around the man's shoulders and said to him with a light smile on his
00:01:43.960 | lips, "If you are such a wonderful craftsman, let me test your great craftsmanship and wonderful
00:01:49.760 | wisdom and see what you can do.
00:01:52.120 | I command you, a royal command, to make for me such a wonderful ring that will be able
00:01:56.920 | to affect a man spiritually, changing his mood of the moment.
00:02:01.460 | If the man is happy, he will become sad when he looks at the ring, and if he is sad and
00:02:06.240 | worried, the ring will change his mood and he will become happy.
00:02:09.820 | If you can show me this, then I will reward you as befits your skill and wisdom.
00:02:14.720 | If you cannot fulfill my command, I will cut off your head."
00:02:19.060 | The silversmith asked the king to give him three days' time.
00:02:23.260 | In his craftsmanship he had done many strange and different rings, but he did not even know
00:02:28.600 | how and where to start for such a work.
00:02:31.600 | He grieved greatly, for he feared death.
00:02:35.440 | After three days, he went to the wise king, bringing with him several rings to show the
00:02:39.720 | king.
00:02:40.720 | He reached the royal palace and found the king's son sitting in the front room.
00:02:45.720 | When the prince saw the silversmith and his ashen face, he asked, "Why are you so miserable?"
00:02:51.840 | The silversmith answered him, "I am walking to the king trembling and my knees are knocking.
00:02:56.480 | I am bringing to the king a golden ring, but I doubt whether the king would like this expensive
00:03:01.120 | ring."
00:03:02.280 | He told the prince that the king had asked him to make a ring that would change a man's
00:03:05.640 | mood every time, but he did not know how to make such a ring.
00:03:11.240 | When the prince heard these matters, he said, "Put one ring on my finger, and I will show
00:03:15.540 | you how to make it."
00:03:17.440 | The silversmith gave him one ring, and the prince put it on his finger.
00:03:21.800 | He took a nail and engraved on the ring three letters, G-Z-Y, in Hebrew, Gemel, Zayin, Yad,
00:03:30.280 | each at a different point on the ring.
00:03:31.880 | He said, "Take this ring to the king, and he will favor you and will give you many presents
00:03:36.360 | and will not punish you."
00:03:38.640 | The silversmith happily went to the king with the ring.
00:03:42.140 | When the great king examined the ring carefully, he recognized the three letters at the three
00:03:45.900 | points on the ring, and the wise king, for whom all mysteries and secrets are revealed
00:03:50.540 | and known and understood, read it and understood the wise hint, Gam, Zay, Ya'avor, which in
00:03:58.420 | Hebrew means "This too will pass."
00:04:01.880 | When the king examined the ring with the initials G-Z-Y, he applied it to himself, "This too
00:04:06.400 | will pass."
00:04:07.820 | That is to say that, although now I am at the highest rank, a king of the whole world
00:04:11.720 | and can enjoy all kinds of pleasures, this will not last forever, and my huge success
00:04:17.620 | will not last always.
00:04:19.940 | When such thoughts came to the king's mind, he immediately grieved very much, and indeed
00:04:24.740 | it befell him exactly as he interpreted it.
00:04:27.700 | A great trouble came upon him, demoting him from his high position, and it came to pass
00:04:32.300 | that the king lost his crown and wandered as a beggar in remote lands.
00:04:37.380 | And when the great king in his poverty looked at the ring on his finger and read the initials
00:04:41.220 | G-Z-Y, "This too shall pass," he said to him, "The trouble that came upon me will not last
00:04:47.300 | forever, and I hope one day to return and gain to be the king on a high throne."
00:04:52.960 | And so it happened.
00:04:56.500 | This story my wife hates, but I find encouraging.
00:05:02.140 | Now there are various, there are many versions of this story.
00:05:06.460 | There's just one that I thought was evocatively written to read to you today.
00:05:12.260 | But the fundamental value is in the wisdom of the words, "This too shall pass."
00:05:17.020 | And I've had a tough past couple of weeks, and I've been sick the last week.
00:05:23.500 | It just knocked me down flat, compounded that on all the challenges from the hurricane and
00:05:28.620 | all of that, and just had a tough couple of weeks.
00:05:32.620 | And yet I don't regret those things.
00:05:35.380 | I actually often appreciate it when I am sick, because it allows me to have more empathy
00:05:41.220 | and compassion for others for whom being sick is a way of life.
00:05:45.020 | I'm rarely sick, and when I am, it's generally not grossly debilitating.
00:05:49.620 | And I am able to appreciate again how easy it is to be positive and energetic and upbeat
00:05:55.700 | when you feel well, and how challenging it is when you don't feel well.
00:06:01.540 | And so I appreciate being sick.
00:06:03.380 | But it's just caused me to be back on almost everything, to be behind on almost everything.
00:06:08.820 | Have you ever been there?
00:06:11.180 | I'm sure you have.
00:06:12.180 | And I want to just encourage you for a few moments that when you're in the middle of
00:06:16.220 | the challenges, encourage yourself, "This too shall pass."
00:06:22.460 | We talk a lot about money, and I try very hard to make sure that most of my content,
00:06:29.460 | most of my product that I create for you here is positive and upbeat and motivated.
00:06:37.900 | I try very hard not to complain.
00:06:39.860 | I try hard not to keep things negative and to just bring a downer mood.
00:06:45.500 | So I do my best to make this show a positive and energetic place for you, a place where
00:06:51.220 | you can come and be confident that you'll walk away encouraged.
00:06:55.420 | That's intentional on my part.
00:06:56.980 | But you know what?
00:06:59.380 | Life's not always like that.
00:07:01.620 | Life's not always positive and upbeat.
00:07:05.540 | Life is hard.
00:07:06.540 | It can be grueling.
00:07:08.180 | And when you're in the middle of a financial journey, there are parts that are really exciting
00:07:12.580 | and euphoric.
00:07:14.700 | But there are times of most of our financial journeys that are very difficult, draining,
00:07:21.180 | grueling, tiring.
00:07:25.660 | Perhaps this is most dramatically seen when perhaps you're in the middle of working your
00:07:30.940 | way out of debt.
00:07:31.940 | It's easy to fall into debt.
00:07:34.380 | Nobody falls out of debt.
00:07:37.260 | I know when I've been there multiple times throughout my life just seeking to work my
00:07:40.940 | way out of debt, I found that often I'm just tired all the time, working hard.
00:07:46.500 | If you're in that situation, I want to encourage you that this too shall pass.
00:07:54.060 | Life's not always going to be difficult and draining like it is now.
00:07:59.140 | That's just the phase that you're in.
00:08:01.460 | Or perhaps you're in a phase at which you're saving aggressively for a goal.
00:08:04.660 | You're in a phase of working.
00:08:06.220 | You're not in a phase of resting and spending.
00:08:08.860 | You're in a phase of working and accumulating.
00:08:11.300 | That's right.
00:08:12.300 | That's good.
00:08:13.300 | It's tough.
00:08:14.300 | It's okay.
00:08:17.420 | You'll get through it.
00:08:19.400 | Or perhaps you're in a phase of business where things are not looking so good.
00:08:23.980 | Your markets are changing.
00:08:25.060 | Your customers are changing.
00:08:26.820 | You're struggling with your ability to deliver new products and services in a changing world.
00:08:32.380 | It's tough.
00:08:34.500 | Businesses go bankrupt.
00:08:35.500 | People go out of business all the time.
00:08:37.540 | And you might be in that situation.
00:08:41.860 | I always find it encouraging to recognize this too shall pass.
00:08:45.900 | Now, I said my wife doesn't like the phrase I'm prone to often say when we're in the middle
00:08:52.580 | of a challenge.
00:08:53.580 | She says, "This too shall pass."
00:08:54.580 | And she's, "What does that even mean?"
00:08:57.220 | It doesn't help anything to say, "This too shall pass."
00:08:59.820 | I want to solve the problem here and now.
00:09:02.300 | So maybe that's not as meaningful for you as it is for me.
00:09:06.020 | But I often find comfort in the fact of just knowing this too shall pass.
00:09:09.820 | We can face almost anything, almost any trial, almost any struggle for the short term, especially
00:09:15.900 | if we know that there's light at the end of the tunnel.
00:09:17.820 | This too shall pass.
00:09:18.820 | And I want to promise you, no matter where you are and no matter the path that you're
00:09:22.300 | walking, there have been other people who have been there, been there in the trenches
00:09:27.380 | with you, been there sick, been there when they couldn't deliver what they wanted to
00:09:34.140 | deliver, been there when they're working late, up early, and they're tired, just want a break.
00:09:41.680 | When they see all their friends all around who were seemingly living the good life and
00:09:46.060 | they don't feel it quite so much.
00:09:48.380 | A lot of people have been there.
00:09:52.820 | But I also want to encourage you with another story, which is to say, don't just focus on
00:10:02.380 | this too shall pass.
00:10:04.940 | Appreciate what you're learning in the middle of the process.
00:10:12.020 | Once upon a time, a man was sleeping at night in his cabin when suddenly his room was filled
00:10:16.020 | with a bright light and the Lord appeared to him.
00:10:19.380 | The Lord told the man that he had work for him to do.
00:10:22.420 | He showed him a large rock right in front of his cabin.
00:10:25.880 | And the Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might.
00:10:29.980 | This the man did day after day.
00:10:32.860 | For many years, he toiled from sunup to sundown with his shoulders set squarely against the
00:10:38.660 | cold massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might.
00:10:44.260 | Each night, the man returned to his cabin sore, worn out, feeling that his whole day
00:10:49.620 | had been spent in vain.
00:10:52.420 | Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, the great adversary decided to enter the picture
00:10:56.220 | by placing thoughts into the man's weary mind.
00:10:59.700 | You've been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't budged.
00:11:03.220 | Why kill yourself over this?
00:11:05.020 | You're never going to move it.
00:11:06.620 | Thus, this gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a
00:11:11.260 | failure.
00:11:12.540 | These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.
00:11:16.140 | Why kill myself over this?
00:11:17.460 | He thought.
00:11:18.460 | I'll just put in my time, giving just the minimum effort, and that'll be good enough.
00:11:22.580 | And that's just what he planned to do.
00:11:25.900 | That is, until one day he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take his troubled
00:11:29.940 | thoughts to the Lord.
00:11:30.940 | Lord, he said, I've labored long and hard in your service.
00:11:34.540 | I've been putting all my strength to do that which you've asked.
00:11:37.980 | Yet after all this time, I haven't even budged that rock by half a millimeter.
00:11:42.340 | What's wrong?
00:11:43.560 | Why am I failing?
00:11:45.420 | The Lord responded compassionately.
00:11:46.900 | My friend, when I asked you to serve me, you accepted.
00:11:50.580 | I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all your strength, which you've
00:11:54.620 | done.
00:11:55.820 | Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.
00:11:59.580 | Your task was to push, and now you come to me with your strength spent thinking that
00:12:04.180 | you've failed.
00:12:05.620 | But is that really so?
00:12:07.700 | Look at yourself.
00:12:09.100 | Your arms are strong and muscular.
00:12:11.800 | Your back sinew is mighty, and your hands are calloused from the constant pressure.
00:12:16.640 | Your legs have become massive and hard.
00:12:19.860 | Through opposition you've grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you
00:12:23.980 | used to have.
00:12:25.800 | Yet you haven't moved the rock.
00:12:28.140 | But your calling was to be obedient and to push.
00:12:31.220 | You were to exercise your faith and trust.
00:12:34.220 | This you've done.
00:12:35.220 | I will now move the rock.
00:12:39.460 | I don't usually go much for kind of pop sugar, feel good religious stories.
00:12:44.620 | And if I could dereligiousize that one, I probably would just to, not that it doesn't
00:12:49.300 | make a valid truth, but I feel sometimes like they're just too trite.
00:12:53.180 | But since I heard that story some years ago, it just really impressed me, and I've often
00:12:57.820 | thought back to it.
00:12:59.980 | And I've often thought, am I learning something while I'm pushing against the rock?
00:13:06.060 | When you think about the challenges that life throws at you, you think about just the challenges,
00:13:10.340 | the things that you can't actually do.
00:13:12.020 | We're never promised success in any particular venture.
00:13:17.020 | You may push and push against the rock.
00:13:20.260 | You may push and push to pay off your debt and ultimately be pressed by your creditors
00:13:25.820 | right into bankruptcy.
00:13:27.660 | You may push and push to save money and ultimately never get to your goal.
00:13:32.540 | You may push and push to build a business and ultimately have it collapse and crumble
00:13:37.580 | right underneath you.
00:13:39.780 | All those things are entirely possible, and they've happened to better men than you and
00:13:45.140 | me, better women than you.
00:13:49.420 | Those things are entirely possible.
00:13:55.500 | But on the flip side, will you look down and see that your hands have become more calloused
00:14:00.900 | and your muscles stronger?
00:14:02.820 | Well, if you've pushed diligently against the rock, you'll learn from that mistake.
00:14:08.980 | You'll learn from those circumstances.
00:14:11.500 | And I'll go with you to your next thing.
00:14:19.580 | So don't think that just because you're facing adversity, you can take comfort in the idea
00:14:24.060 | that this too shall pass and then ignore the current circumstances.
00:14:30.340 | Think that the way that you handle your current adversity will make a difference in you, and
00:14:38.580 | the lessons that you learn and what you're facing right now will move on and will go
00:14:43.020 | with you for the rest of your life.
00:14:45.660 | I always love that little saying, "How you do anything is how you do everything."
00:14:49.620 | And I've found it to be true.
00:14:51.780 | How you do anything is how you do everything.
00:14:53.940 | You can't be committed in some areas and then think that that commitment won't reflect through
00:14:59.540 | on other areas.
00:15:01.380 | You can't fake it and just show up in some areas and not show up in others.
00:15:06.540 | How you do anything is how you do everything.
00:15:09.940 | And so I close today's little motivational monologue, I guess this has been, with a simple
00:15:16.180 | encouragement.
00:15:17.180 | If you find yourself in a dark place or in a hard place, recognize that this too shall
00:15:25.340 | pass and if you keep on working, you'll come through it.
00:15:30.260 | Things will look brighter in the morning.
00:15:33.140 | Don't think that everybody else doesn't go through exactly what you're facing.
00:15:38.820 | Don't think that everyone else's lives are just great.
00:15:42.260 | People feel great all the time.
00:15:43.540 | They're positive and upbeat and ready to go all the time.
00:15:47.620 | It's not true.
00:15:50.420 | Every motivational guru, every prominent politician, every community leader, business
00:15:57.580 | leader, every one of your friends, everyone you know has tough days, tough weeks, tough
00:16:06.260 | months, tough years.
00:16:08.660 | That's life.
00:16:09.660 | If you're in a tough financial spot, join the club.
00:16:14.820 | Just about all of us have been there.
00:16:16.260 | Just about all of us will be there again.
00:16:18.500 | The scale may change, but tough times come and go.
00:16:24.580 | So don't give up.
00:16:25.580 | Keep pressing on.
00:16:26.580 | Recognize this too shall pass and focus on passing through it the very best that you
00:16:34.420 | can because that'll do a work in you.
00:16:38.100 | Facing adversity, facing trial, facing difficult times will do a work in you.
00:16:44.220 | When I look back at my life over the last 20 years, the times that have been the most
00:16:50.780 | transformative for me have been the most difficult.
00:16:58.660 | The times in my life over the last 20 years that have been the most transformative have
00:17:05.380 | been the most difficult.
00:17:11.340 | Ask any successful person, they'll tell you the same thing.
00:17:16.300 | It's not fun, it's not easy when you're in the middle of it.
00:17:19.500 | Requires growth, requires changes.
00:17:23.300 | If what you're doing isn't working, it may be time to sit down and say, "Should I quit
00:17:27.580 | and do something else?"
00:17:30.140 | Let's change the tactics, but don't quit the effort.
00:17:34.340 | Just refocus.
00:17:35.340 | Anyway, that's all I got for you.
00:17:38.100 | I wanted to share this.
00:17:40.540 | I feel like it's valuable.
00:17:42.660 | People like me do things who, again, come to a microphone every day when things are
00:17:48.140 | going great.
00:17:49.620 | If we don't show up to a microphone during some of the times when things are tough, again,
00:17:54.700 | just facing sickness, it's knocked me back.
00:18:00.700 | I think oftentimes it leads to an unbalanced idea.
00:18:04.180 | I just wanted to share those short little thoughts with you and encourage you.
00:18:09.820 | I hope this was more than just fluffy, positive-sounding motivational ideas.
00:18:16.340 | These are some principles that I think do have value.
00:18:20.540 | Even though they're couched in the middle of some fluffy stories and feel-good medicine,
00:18:25.900 | I guess, these things are real and they're encouraging to me.
00:18:30.620 | I am doing better.
00:18:31.620 | I'm sorry I've been away this week.
00:18:32.620 | I haven't been able to talk for much of the week, but I'm doing better now.
00:18:37.900 | My voice is about 80-85% recovered, and I'll be back with you on Monday morning to help
00:18:44.460 | you build the knowledge, skills, insight, encouragement that you need each day, especially
00:18:50.860 | Monday, to live a rich and meaningful life now while building a plan for financial freedom
00:18:55.080 | in 10 years or less.
00:18:58.220 | This show is part of the Radical Life Media network of podcasts and resources.
00:19:03.860 | Find out more at RadicalLifeMedia.com.
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