Rich Man, Poor Man

I really didn’t know what I was getting into when I started this “Humorously Speaking” workbook. I never thought I had any trouble thinking of something funny to put in my speeches when they didn’t have to funny.

Now, that this speech is supposed to start with a funny story, my mind went blank.

It is said that you should never compare yourself to others. There will always be greater and lesser individuals than you.

But, what the heck? Let's dare to compare. Shall we?

When Tony Robbins was 22 years old, he describes himself as “a bachelor with only a high school education, being 30 pounds overweight, living in a 400-square foot apartment, and washing dishes in the bathtub.”

Just three years later, he was counseling presidents, training executives, and vacationing with his wife in their castle by the Pacific Ocean near San Diego. He was the author of a best-selling self-help book called, Unlimited Power: The Way to Peak Personal Achievement.

When I was 22, I had a college degree but my Mom was still packing my lunch. Three years later, I was unhappy, well on the way to a broken-up marriage, stuck in a lousy job, and I was buying Tony Robbins’s book.

So, a mere 35 years later, where are we now? Tony Robbins is chauffeured in stretch limos to meetings with heads of state, pro athletes, and rock stars, even appearing in movies, playing, of all people, himself!

I, on the other hand, am driving here in my 11-year old Pontiac, at 7 a.m. on a Monday morning, talking to you!

There is a saying about people who “know all the words” but can’t “find the tune.” All I know is that there must be a lot of us. A visit to any bookstore will show row after row of self-help books, with plenty of words, on any aspect of “help” you can imagine.

We all know that there is no shortage of “words of wisdom” or free advice. I have all the words I need. But have I ever found the tune? And, if I’ve found it, why don’t I seem to be able to sing it?

Is that the real difference between Tony and me? He not only knew the words when he was 25, but he knew the tune, too?

Even from his limousine, Tony talks to me about what is important in life, about the “syntax of success.”

Of course, I am doing a little more than attending Toastmasters once a week.

I got out of that relationship, got a better job and overcame (mostly) two of my biggest fears (traveling and public speaking). So, how do you like me, now?

I found an even better job and overcame (mostly) my fear of living somewhere other than where I was born, too.

That job is gone now, too. But I did find my life’s calling, and even got married again, seven years ago, at the tender age of forty-nine. And I know another opportunity will come along. They always do.

Every once in a while, I am tempted to “invest” 20 bucks or so on another book whose cover promises me more money, more happiness, or more whatever.

Now, however, I realize I already have THE best, and oldest, self-help manual of all, written by THE REAL expert of human potential. That’s right! You all know what book I’m talking about.

So, who is better off? Tony Robbins has his limos, and his jet, and all his millions. Or me?

As Mary Chapin Carpenter says so well in one of her songs:

“Who cares? You’ll never live in Paris.
So what? You’ll never travel by Lear.
How is it some of us learn what matters.
And others never get anywhere near.”

Think it over. Ask yourself, “Who is the rich man and who is the poor?”

I have my answer.