Town Hall for Hope

I attended the Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope webcast last night. It was worth watching, and I think it will become available on line at http://www.townhallforhope.com/ .

Dave is a good speaker, and I took away several clever phrases and metaphors such as:

1. He introduced an extended part of his presentation by saying "Let's begin to unpack this.". It created the image of delving into something, together with the audience, one piece at a time.
2. When telling a story about talking to the president in the Oval Office, in bring the listeners emotionally along with him, he said "Walk into the Oval Office with me....".
3. He made the point that without the possibility of failure, there is no motivation to excel. Failure causes suffering. Suffering leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to success.
   

Yes, foreclosures are up. But only five states (MI, CA, NV, AR and FL) account for 50+% of foreclosures. 35 counties account for 50+% of foreclosures. So, while foreclosures are up everywhere, the severity is very localized. And homes are a bargain in those places.

His core message was to stop getting caught up in the hysteria. That's only making it worse. We don't need government to bail us out. It will be the American people that will turn this around. For example, we need to not buy things that we can't afford. And we need to have a can-do attitude about customer service.

He wrapped it up by asking people to do these three things if they are struggling with hope.

1. Do something. Be active. Get up. Get moving. Build a sweat. It's good for you.
2. Don't participate in loser talk. It will only bring you down.
3. Learn to give again. Give your time or your money. Serve other people.

That's what it was all about. If you get the opportunity to watch it on line, it's worth watching. If nothing else, you will be sure to laugh at some of his stories. And laughter is always a good thing.

Smile. God's watching you.