Extreme Survival by Former Football Player

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Assuming his account of the story is accurate, the survival of Football player Nick Schuyler in Gulf of Mexico is remarkable.  3 other men were  also in the boat, as they went on a fishing trip.  Around 5:30p on that fateful day, the group ran into trouble as their anchor caught the coral causing the boat to fill with water, and eventually capsize. 

All 4 men were able to secure life jackets, and held onto the boat.  And yet 48 hours later only 1 survived.  Why was that?  Obviously being in the chilling water clouded their judgments.  According to Mr. Schuyer, 1 man freaked out, and disappeared into the night.  Another became violent, and threw punches before finally diving into sea, and never to be seen.  The third man, and perhaps the most tragic having survived for almost two days, and was just hours from the rescue thought that he saw land, and decided to swim towards it, also was never seen again.

Apparently Mr. Schuyler had a reputation for toughness and self discipline.  He was also able to cling onto a mental thought of not having his mom attend his funeral.  In the end, he survived and endured, while the other men didn’t.  The lesson if any that can be drawn is to stay calm and level headed however difficult the situation.  I know, easier said then done. 

The other lesson seems to be not to venture far from the scene of the accident, especially if the chance of a search is high.  A couple of years ago, a family of 4 was stuck in a snowstorm on a remote road.  The husband decided to go for help while his wife and 2 children waited.  The man ended up travelling in circles before stumbling to hypothermia and froze to death.  His wife and kids were later rescued by helicopter.  Had he stayed put, he most likely would have survived. 

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Guarding against Hyperinflation

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Money exists because of debt.  If there’s no debt, then there’s no money.  The current economic depression is caused by the default of trillions dollars worth of debt.  This destruction of money causes deflation, where money becomes scarce, and more valuable. 

So what happens next is that economic growth slows down.  Unemployment goes up.  More loan default happens.  And the cycle repeats.  The Fed decides to solve this problem by creating massive amount of money from nothing, thin air, a snap of the fingers.  It’s a fight they will definitely win.  Heck money doesn’t even need the printing press to exist these days!  Just go into the computer and add a few extra digits, and viola, instant more money!   

My predication is that eventually there will be a lot of money.  It just won’t worth as much.  For a recent lesson on hyperinflation, check out the Zimbabwe money.  I’m not saying that we’ll be walking around with $100 Billion Bills, maybe just $1 million, but instead creating money from nothing is a slippery slope that we’ve been falling for quite a while even before the whole economic mess.  Now the crisis gives the Government the power to create & spend an unprecedented amount of money.  So yeah the chances for inflation, even hyper ones in the years/decades ahead is pretty high.

So what should a cautious person do?  Maybe buy some gold.  There’s only so much of it around, and has a proven track record of retaining its value throughout history.  If you don’t want to own the actual stuff, then at least go for the paper certificate, like GLD.  You don’t have to have everything in Gold.  But get some insurance policy against losing big time if the whole system actually collapses.

Goals Make Life Worth Living

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We should all have goals, something to strive towards.  Whether it’s building better relationships with our loved ones, or improve our health & finances.  Goals make life more meaningful.  Let’s face it.  Life goes by pretty fast.  Goals help us with priorities and better allocate our most precious resource, time… 

Why not set your goals today?  Take a few minutes and write 10 of the most important goals in your life.  Then be sure to review them often, preferably daily, to make sure they’re still relevant & up to date.  Goals can also act as milestones to help us figure out whether we’re on track.  Or to put it in a more bluntly, if we do something that helps us achieve our goals, then we’re behaving intelligently.  And if not, then stupidly.

Make sure it’s specific & measurable.  For example, “I want to make $100K in 2009” is a goal, whereas “I want to make more money” is a vague wish.  In that case, here’s a buck.  That’s more money.  So mission accomplished. and back to watching mindless TV on the couch? 

Sarcastic remarks aside, goals help us grow & hopefully become better people.  Goals provide us with a sense of direction & purpose.  So have some goals.  And start accomplishing!