“On your mark, get set, GO!”   All of the sudden, the Easter egg filled area was full of children, scooping up as many colorful Easter eggs that they could find and put them in their baskets.  Many stopped to pick up the ones in front of them.  Some ran a little farther and picked up those.  But, then there were the ones who ran past all of the children who had stopped and went to the back of the area and picked up all of the eggs while the majority of the children were still near the front.  Yes, one of the few that ran past the egg hunting children and snatched up handfuls of eggs at the back, was my daughter. 

     Coached by her dad and myself, we told her that most kids will stop and pick up the eggs in front of them.  And because of that, many will try to pick up the same one, though only one child can have it.  Those kids who stop in the middle will get more eggs since the rest of the crowd is still back at the front trying to pick up those eggs.  But, if she went to the back where there are more opportunities to get many more eggs, she would have access to abundance.

     Do you view life like hunting Easter eggs?  Do you only focus on what is immediately in front of you?  Do you plan for a little farther into the future?  Or, do you plan for the long haul?  Each one does have its benefits; however, I find that looking or planning out into the future has benefitted me tremendously.  Now, that’s not to say that we shouldn’t enjoy life today or next month.  But, when you consider how your actions today affect those tomorrow, next week, next month, or the rest of your life, you may tend to look at your choices differently.

     Take, for instance, that you get a monthly bill in the mail.  You could choose to pay it today, in a few days, or next week.  If you pay it today, you won’t have to worry about it again.  If you wait for a few days, you may or may not remember to pay it.  And, if you wait until next week, you may have misplaced the bill altogether.  On the flip side, if you spend all of your money today, you won’t have any money left for things that come up next week.  If you save and set aside money for bills which you know that will come up during the next year or so, you’ll have the money to pay them when they are due.  And, if you want to live as you wish in retirement, the best advice is to start saving today.  Sure, retirement may be many years away for some of you.  But, if you start saving today, the compound interest over time multiply your savings, and your will have a nice nest egg 20, 30, or 40 years from now.

     Running as fast as she could while swooping down to pick up Easter eggs at the back of the field, Olivia returned to us with a basketful.  One by one, she opened them up to find yummy candy inside.  Though she was excited to open and find the delectable treats, she jumped up and proudly showed me a piece of paper that she pulled out of one of her eggs.  It said, “Grand Prize Winner.”  “Mommy, I didn’t expect to get this!” she said.  Though she went where she could have the greatest chance to pick up the most eggs, her goal wasn’t to find the grand prize egg.  Why not?  Why didn’t she try to set her sights on winning the big prize?  Why do we go through life wanting to win the big prize, but don’t have a plan?  Olivia increased the chances of her getting the Grand Prize by going and gathering eggs where not that many children were.  Do you go where others may not be going?  Do your friends buy the latest and greatest gadgets, only to have nothing set aside for retirement?  Sometimes, it’s best to look out over the crowd and make a plan to go farther than the others so that you can live like you want.  How does that sound?