Two paths diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Ever felt like you’re just wandering aimlessly through life? Ever wish someone would just show you the way? Tell you what you should do next?

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

Having a bugger of a time figuring it out yourself, doesn’t it just make sense to find a model–someone you know and respect? Someone whose life you can, with good conscious (hell maybe even with conviction), emulate? What’s the harm in that?

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

Interestingly, Joseph Campbell has something to say about just this type of conundrum. From, Reflections on the Art of Living, A Joseph Campbell Companion:

In the story of Sir Galahad, the knights agree to go on a quest, but thinking it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group, each “entered into the forest, at one point or another, there where they saw it to be thickest, all in those places where they found no way or path.”

Where there is a way or a path, it’s someones else’s way. Each knight enters the forest at the most mysterious point and follows his own intuition. What each brings forth is what never before was on land or sea: the fulfillment of his unique potentialities, which are different from anybody else’s. All you get on your life way are little clues.

In that wonderful story, when any knight sees the trail of another, thinks he’s getting there, and starts to follow the other’s track, he goes astray entirely.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference.

Of course, thanks to Robert Frost, you knew how this post would end almost even before it began–didn’t you?

But it still begs the question: Do you buy it?

Does this ring true for you? Can you relate? Were there ever times in your life where you had the courage to enter the forest at its darkest and most mysterious, trusting in only your wits, luck and gut.

What happened? Did you then bring forth what has never before been seen on land or sea? Or did you go crying back to mommy and daddy with your knees all scraped up?

Can’t remember?

Don’t feel bad.

Seth Godin says:

“It’s easy to underestimate how difficult it is for someone to become curious. For 7, 10,15 years of school, you are required to not be curious. Over and over and over again, the curious are punished.”

Got a minute (or five)? Check out the rest of what he has to say in this video. Then let me know what you think. Out of everything he said, what jumped out at you the most?

Be honest–I’m curious.

You probably wouldn’t know it by reading this blog, but I think I do a lot of reflecting about personal growth and spirituality. I don’t often blog about it because, quite frankly, I really don’t think I have anything new to say about it. In short, I can’t explain stuff like that when I have so much trouble applying it to my own life.

There are entire libraries worth of self-improvement literature. I’m not the guy to add to it.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not thinking deeply about it. I am.

And somewhere along the line, a hint of that must have slipped through here because the other day I received on this blog the most interesting and profound comment. It’s more an essay than a comment, really. And I’m sharing it here as it’s own post because it’s good stuff. Helpful stuff. Smart stuff. And it’s good writing.

What you are about to read has not been edited by me in any way except to bold headings that appeared to me to be obvious headings. Anonymous Commenter, if you’re still out there, I hope I did your writing justice. And thank you so much for sharing.

If this is evidence of the kind of thinking people who are reading this blog, all I have to say is, Damn. I’ve got the coolest readers on the internet.

So, without further ado, I present what I can only call, The Comment.

*******************************************

Chris,

Unfortunately you have no email available to send this to, so I’m just commenting on a somewhat related entry in hopes you will see this relatively soon.

In a nutshell, the following fell together for me last night and I knew two things for sure – I needed to write this down and I needed to share it. You seem to be in your writing a somewhat kindred soul who likes things that make sense. When you come across this please read the essay, try the content if you think it makes sense, and place it in your blog or anywhere else you think it may help someone if you believe it works for you. I personally can’t believe there’s anyone it won’t work for.
Thanks for giving it a chance.

Eliminate Conflict and Find Peace – RIGHT NOW!

I am not a psychologist, a writer, nor am I an active member of any religion. I’m just an individual who has recently come across what I believe to be the absolute easiest and fastest solution to drastically increase one’s well-being through the dissolution of conflict and enjoyment of true Peace. You can begin and start seeing results immediately, and the only requirement is honesty.

The details of how this solution evolved and became apparent to me are unimportant, but suffice to say I have always been one to look for a better (read: shorter, faster easier) way to do things and have a knack for sorting through loads of information in an effort to find those core essentials that truly make sense. Well-researched laziness, if you will…

This solution is far too short and uncomplicated to write a book about, so it is apparent that it is meant to be shared with all for free, and the sooner the better.

I want nothing save your happiness. I am not asking you to purchase anything, nor am I asking you to acknowledge me for sharing this with you. This solution is not about me nor does it belong to me. It simply offers what I believe to be a better way which focuses on essentials and I hope makes as much sense for you as it makes sense for me.

You have absolutely nothing to lose. I sincerely hope that if you continue reading you will have enough “Wow, that really makes sense…” moments to put the solution into practice. Once you start doing so and experience the immediate benefit, you will find it so easy and enjoyable you will employ the solution more and more. At some point if you are honest with yourself and believe that you have made a change for the better, hopefully you will want to share it with someone else.

If you want to experience the happiness of true Peace, have an open mind and are prepared to be completely honest, the time is now.

Unqualified Happiness

Everyone has mental images which are stored as memories of a time, however brief, when none of his/her perceived problems mattered and he/she was free to just enjoy the Unqualified Happiness of the moment.

This memory should have nothing to do with achievement, nor financial/material gain, as these are merely examples of qualified happiness. Being happy just for the opportunity to enjoy the moment is what we’re looking for here. Be honest with yourself and you’ll know which memories I’m referring to strictly by the distinctive way they make you feel when you recall them. Memories of the unconditional love of a smiling partner or the beautiful innocence of a child are prime examples of this, but life is full of them, and you will recognize them easily when you search.

We are going to start paying attention to those memories starting right now. Pick a favourite memory of Unqualified Happiness and the mental image that accompanies it. Commit it to memory to the point where you are instantly able to recall it and invoke that distinctive feeling in yourself. This will not take long at all.

Now that you have committed a benchmark as to what Unqualified Happiness feels like and can recall it for reference and comparison at any time, it will be much easier to recognize, whether specifically looking for it or not. You will recognize this feeling much more frequently than you think you will. Every time you do you must hold on to it, and you must act fast!

As soon as you know you’re experiencing the feeling of Unqualified Happiness, create a mental image for it. In the case of a memory this has been done for you and there is already an image which invokes this feeling. If you are experiencing the feeling real-time, just be aware of the moment. Any sight, sound or smell around you is potentially an easily-recalled mental image. Simply decide what you want to associate with this feeling and commit to memory.

The Happiness File

Every time you have created a new mental image associated with the feeling of Unqualified Happiness, recall your original ‘favourite’ image and mentally attach it to the image you just created. Enjoy the feeling of the Unqualified Happiness, which is now stronger because you not only were experiencing it, but at the same time you invoked more of it by recalling this original mental image you now associate it with. Every time you recall your original image, which I am going to call your ‘Happiness Icon’, the feeling you invoke will be of this new, stronger Unqualified Happiness. By recalling your Happiness Icon you have no choice but to also recall all the mental images you have attached to it and of course the stronger feeling associated with them. The more often you recognize the feeling of Unqualified Happiness and take a moment to commit to memory, the better it will feel every time you do and the more often you will want to do it. The more often you do it the easier it will be. It’s really that simple.

What you are doing is creating a ‘Happiness File’, an ever-growing collection of mental images and most importantly the feeling of Unqualified Happiness which is instantly available just by recalling your Happiness Icon. Continuing to add to this File will be so easy and the resulting feeling every time you access it so enjoyable you will start habitually looking for moments of Unqualified Happiness to add to your file on a day-to-day basis.

All That Matters

Here’s the tough part.

This Happiness File of yours? That collection of memories and (most importantly) the feeling of Unqualified Happiness that it invokes?

This File is ALL THAT MATTERS. Not one other single thing in your life matters a whit except for what you’re storing in your File.

I’m happy to be the one that breaks it to you, because it is so important to your happiness, but I know you’re going to have a hard time with it. You have your hard-won accomplishments and most times you believe you have done or are doing something to make a difference in your life.

You haven’t. You’re not. You think I’m wrong, but it’s the truth. You think what I’m saying is terrible, but it’s wonderful. Please bear with me and I hope to make enough sense to keep your interest.

Let me put it this way. Regardless of who you are, where you come from, the nature of your faith or lack of faith, I am certain we can agree on one point. When you are facing the end of this life, the ONLY thing you will personally have to show for all of those hours spent upon this Earth is a lifetime of memories and the feelings that are associated with them. Nobody wants their final moments to be moments of angst and regret, so having a wealth of memories through which one can invoke and enjoy Unqualified Happiness is undoubtedly of paramount importance. Wouldn’t you agree?

It is for this reason that unless what you are doing will result in a feeling of Unqualified Happiness to add to your file, it’s not going to matter. Period. Be honest with yourself and you will agree that it is true. The good news is that anything you can do to achieve that feeling and add to the file matters A LOT. This being the case, why would anyone not want to spend their time doing something that matters?

By the way….This feeling of Unqualified Happiness that you have learned to store up, increase and invoke at will? I’m going to start calling it by a less-clumsy name. I believe many people refer to it as Peace.

Hard, Fast Rule #1 – PEACE IS ALL THAT MATTERS!!!!!!!!!!

Conflict

Conflict is the opposite of Peace. Since Peace is all that matters conflict naturally represents that which does not matter.

Conflict arises frequently in an attempt to distract you from what matters. Quite often it is so relentless that moments of Peace which should be enjoyed and stored in your file are lost. When you forget what matters by engaging Conflict I guarantee that no good can come of it, as you are futilely embroiling yourself in something which does not matter!

‘Handling’, ‘dealing with’, or even ‘resolving’ Conflict is not the answer. If you are going to spend your time doing what matters (finding and retaining Peace), the conflict must be eliminated. If you eliminate what does not matter, what are you left with?

The first step to eliminating conflict is to recognize it at its onset. Many times Conflict is not recognized for what it is early enough and manages to engage and distract you before you know it. This is because most people only think of Conflict in the context of relationships between people. Although this is a leading symptom of conflict, it is actually far more grass-roots than that.

Conflict is trying to distract you any time you feel anger or judgment of ANY KIND rise inside you. I don’t care about the scenario that led to the rise in Conflict, and you don’t either. It doesn’t matter.

Hard, Fast Rule #2 – CONFLICT IS NEVER JUSTIFIED

Part of Conflict’s distraction technique is to fill your mind with rationalizations of your anger and/or judgment – all kinds of arguments as to why you’re justified in feeling this way. You’re not. People are often easily deceived by these rationalizations and end up running headlong to engage Conflict, feeling justified in their motivation but inevitably spending hours, days, even years hopelessly flailing in a quagmire of that which does not matter.

Thankfully you recognize Conflict for what it is and you want to eliminate it as quickly as possible so you can get back to what matters.

Eliminating Conflict

You’ve recognized Conflict trying to distract you, felt the anger and judgment rise inside you, now how do you eliminate it as soon as possible? As long as you follow these few simple steps, keep the two Hard, Fast rules in mind and are prepared to be completely honest with yourself you can eliminate conflict every time regardless of the circumstances, which of course don’t matter. It will take no time at all to seamlessly and almost instantly eliminate conflict and move on to what matters every time.

As soon as you are faced with Conflict’s distraction, you should immediately access your Happiness Icon and invoke the feeling of peace. Buoyed by the reaffirmation of what really matters, it is easy to see Conflict as truly being of no matter at all. It will do everything it can to keep you distracted, likely with an onslaught of rationalizations hoping to make you forget what matters and engage, even disparaging you for ‘backing down’. You’re too smart, though – You’ve already figured out there’s nothing of consequence to ‘back down’ from.

Once you have de-powered Conflict by remembering what matters, everything will change and the idea of engaging the conflict won’t be attractive at all.

The next step is where the honesty comes in, and it’s harder than you might imagine. You are awash in a feeling of Peace and feeling good about stopping Conflict in its tracks. Now is the perfect time to ask yourself WHY this situation caused Conflict to try and distract you.

Knowing that Conflict is never justified, we can immediately discard any stray rationalizations that present themselves. There is no blame to be assigned here. Ask yourself WHY the conflict arose outside the context of the scenario, think about your feelings at that exact moment, and BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF.

You may come up with the answer “I don’t know”. That is because you’re not prepared to be honest with yourself. Try again. Don’t be afraid to look closely. It really doesn’t take as long as it seems.

I am willing to bet that if you examine those feelings of conflict at the moment they arise, they may follow any number of routes in any number of forms in order to get to you and distract you, but in the end the answer will be along the lines of the following:

The circumstances that initially appear to have brought on the Conflict have actually directly or indirectly reminded you of a moment in the past in which your actions, attitude, or behaviour left you hurt, embarrassed, guilty or self-critical.

So there it is. Much like you have learned to do with feelings of peace, Conflict is very adept at storing up memories and the negative feelings associated with them as well, using them to distract you and lure you into engaging something that doesn’t matter.

Conflict arises because you’re angry with yourself. You may not like hearing it, but I know that you’ve been honest with yourself and you know that it makes sense.

Here is where we get the opportunity to really strike a blow against Conflict by eliminating one of its root causes. Whatever your answer when you were being honest with yourself about why the Conflict arose, you can now easily take that negative memory and remove its power, recognizing it for what it is and acknowledging that IT DOESN’T MATTER.

Just like that you have one less negative memory for Conflict to dredge up and distract you with! Since you’re now concentrating only on what matters, you shouldn’t be building any more, and with enough eradications eventually Conflict will have no place in your life at all.

So that’s about it. I told you it was short and easy. In a nutshell, just remember the two Hard & Fast Rules:

1) PEACE IS ALL THAT MATTERS
2) CONFLICT IS NEVER JUSTIFIED

Simply be completely honest with yourself and apply those two rules to every decision, action or reaction. It’s really that easy.

Thank you for taking the time to read. I wish you nothing but the best.

I started a Masters program this fall and have to tell you–it’s a blast. I’m learning so many cool things! Recently we were asked to revisit our “Philosophies of Education.” So I got to play around with this the other night.

I’ve mentioned stuff like this in passing before. But I’ve never formulated (and articulated) what I believe “education” is all about so emphatically.

We had some choices for presentation, and I went with a pamphlet type of thing that we could give to students or parents, which is pretty tough to recreate here, but I think you’ll get the gist.

I imagine I’ll continue to tweek it. I’ve already changed a couple of things even after turning it in last weekend. I’m just that way I guess.

Okay, enough chit-chat.

All the stats and images came from, Shift Happens, over at Slideshare.

Learning is Heroic

According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004.

I believe that real, lasting and valuable teaching and learning is a creative process anchored to a framework of ideas about what is possible. We live in unique times. Technology is fueling an information explosion.  This has profound implications for teaching and learning. Consider, for example, these two statistical bits from one of my favorite presentations, “Shift Happens,” originally developed by Karl Fisch:

• The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs by the age of 38.
• The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. For students starting a four-year technical or college degree, this means that half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study.

It’s statements like these that lead me to believe that teaching, learning, and curriculum should focus less on content, and more on the skills needed to communicate, as well as creatively and critically solve problems.

In order for this to happen, I think our entire educational landscape will have to undergo paradigm shifts that will change the very structure of what we do.  We must shake the very bedrock.

Big shifts like this mean risk. They mean venturing into unknown territory. They mean adventure.

10 years ago, who could have predicted Google? Who then could even foresee the problems that search engines would solve? Today, there are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month. Information is expanding and change exponential. Tomorrow’s great thinkers and leaders are today’s risk takers and problem solvers.

They are our hero’s.

I believe we desperately need a new and heroic vision in education. One that can grow and adapt at today’s rate of change. One that leads in the exploration of new ideas. One that not only reads and writes and shares and analyzes information, but that also recognizes, values and nurtures a creative spirit–the spirit of the hero, unafraid of failure, able to take a hit and recover after setbacks, reassess the terrain, learn, adapt and continue on toward victory.

Students need skills that will allow them to solve problems that don’t exist  yet—true. But to do this, they will also need adventurous and creative attitudes to be able to adapt to the ever-changing landscape.

Learning has just become heroic. It’s a shift, I know. But . . .

Shift Happens.

The Hero Path
“We have not even to risk the hero’s adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known.
We have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god.
And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outward, we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world.”
—Joseph Campbell

Living the good life–before primerica

I let Primerica into my home. I gave Primerica my trust. This is how Primerica responded.

In July of 2005, a Primerica rep sat at my kitchen table. I didn’t know it then, but this was the beginning of a very interesting and challenging journey–for both of us.

It all started when the phone rang one evening:

“Hello, Mr. Wondra. My name is Rob Larson and I represent Primerica Financial Services.”

“Who?”

“Rob Larson, sir.”

“No. What company?” I’m not known for my phone etiquette–especially on cold calls.

“Primerica. We’re a financial services company. If there were a way for me to save you money by lowering your monthly payments, would you be interested?”

Now, he had no way of knowing, but at that time, I felt like we were in a financial crisis. Looking back, this may not have been true. We were paying our bills on time. Our credit score was very good. We were in no danger of losing our home. But I felt like our debt was eating us alive. Almost weekly, we juggled credit cards, balance transfers, bank accounts and what my teacher’s salary provided.

I’m telling you it was icky.

We we met our basic needs: bought groceries, payed the mortgage, the utilities, the taxes, got most of our clothes from garage sales and Goodwill (still do).

Every morning Lisa got up at 4:30 to deliver papers before coming home to help Emma and I off to school. The rest of the day she stayed home with our 2-year-old, did any sewing that she had from people, and built our Shaklee business.

Every night I went to my second job.

So if a mortgage company like Primerica were looking for someone to take advantage of with some big promises, we were definitely in a vulnerable position.

Primerica and the kitchen table

Then one evening, out of the blue, Primerica called. I’m not sure how Rob got our number, but he said he might be able to help.

I wasn’t optimistic.

I tracked economic indicators like the GDP, prime rate, energy prices . . . Lisa and I are both college graduates, professionals—as best I can figure, we’re not stupid—and we’re not easily scammed.

We’d already used equity in our home to consolidate debt and refinance our mortgage at a lower interest rate once. And at less than 6% I was very happy with it. I understood the amortization tables. I understood equity, compound interest, and the tax benefits of lumping debt into a mortgage (as compared to paying credit card companies).

I watched the mortgage rates at our bank and its competitors, and I kept track of other economic indicators like GDP, the prime rate, energy prices, and was keenly interested in what the Fed was up to. Lisa and I are both college graduates, professionals—as best I can figure, we’re not stupid—and we’re not easily scammed.

Did I really want Primerica anywhere near my mortgage?

Yet if you know me, you also know I pride myself on keeping an open mind.

So we had him over.

The most interesting thing about that first visit was that he didn’t try to sell us anything. Basically all he did was introduce himself and Primerica as a branch of Citigroup whose mission it was to help people get out of debt and strengthen their financial situation. Then he drilled us for information. He was pleasant but efficient. He didn’t make any pitches. He didn’t tell any jokes. He didn’t brag about his company. And he promised nothing.

All he did was ask for information.

Since we were uncomfortable and already paying keen attention to our cash flow at the time, we had most everything he wanted at our fingertips—all the monthly payments and interest rates, time remaining on these debts, other bills, savings, etc. . . Some of it we had to dig for—like retirement savings and stuff like that.

The first meeting might have taken an hour.

You can’t keep consolidating and refinancing just to keep payments low. You may give yourself some breathing room, but you’ll never get to the reality of your debt.

What he promised to do with all this information was create a free report that outlined our entire financial picture. He called it a Financial Needs Analysis (or FNA) and said we could keep it whether we did business with him or not. His manner was professional. There was no pressure or expectation of any kind. Other than the report, I didn’t get the impression that he even thought he could help us. I think he had to wait for the report himself.

I appreciated that he seemed to understand family finances can be somewhat complex.

I made it clear I wasn’t interested in increasing the term of our mortgage. He knew the rate we had, and even if he could match or beat it, I really didn’t want to refinance again. Every time you do that, it costs you. Even if you go from 18 years to a 20-year term. You can’t keep consolidating and refinancing debt just to keep payments low. You may give yourself some breathing room (for the moment), but you’ll never get to the reality of your debt.

And you’ll never get out from under it.

Anyway, like I said, Rob wasn’t making any promises. And I was interested in this “report”.

Primerica’s Financial Needs Analysis (or FNA in Primeri-speak)

About a week later, he came back, Financial Needs Analysis (FNA) in hand. Now I understand that Rob Larson is a representative of Primerica and not a financial planner. I understand that he was in my house hoping to sell me something. I understand that I could have probably gotten more information from a “real” financial planner. Still, the information in the FNA was interesting. I’d never had our financial picture organized so well.

The most interesting thing for me was the analysis of our cash flow. It showed that our debt to income ratio was 34%. That is, for every dollar we made, $0.34 was going to pay our debts. The report said that 21%-35% debt to income was “Fair” as compared to:

• “Excellent” 15% or less,
• “Safe” 16%-20%,
• “High” 36%-50%, or
• “Dangerous” 51% or more.

More specifically the report stated, “Based on your current income, your debt is at a fair level. But you may be finding a sizable portion of your income going towards paying off debt. Consequently, you may not have enough to reach your other goals.”

Tell me about it.

Primerica’s debt elimination strategy: the s.m.a.r.t loan

Rob then took us through a few options that he thought would help—starting with a debt elimination program aimed at systematically eliminating the highest interest debts first and then moving on down the line. As a number cruncher, I had fun looking at the charts and tables, the strategy was nothing new.

I wasn’t impressed.

Next, he showed us an option involving our equity, consolidating debts, and refinancing with Primerica. He called it the S.M.A.R.T. Loan, and it caught my attention for 4 reasons.

1. It involved simple interest,
2. Included a bi-weekly payment plan,
3. Let us keep the same number of years remaining on our current mortgage. In other words, at that time, we had 18 years left on our mortgage. Rob said we could run the numbers and stay with an 18-year term. And,
4. We could do all this and decrease our monthly payments!

Primerica: scam or savior? My findings.

I was so excited about the potential for the S.M.A.R.T loan, I told him I’d have to think about it.

The last thing I want to do with my money is trust someone trying to sell me something.

I had to do my own research.

The last thing I want to do with my money is trust someone trying to sell me something.
I didn’t understand simple interest—and quite frankly, the more research I did, the more confused I got. I did understand how bi-weekly payments accelerate debt elimination. But I got confused when simple interest was involved.

As much as I respected Rob’s approach, I still didn’t trust him– or Primerica for that matter. Like I said, I had to do my own research.

So I scoured the internet, the library, called the Better Business Bureau, talked to our bank, called references, ran dozens of amortization tables, went back and forth with Rob asking him specific questions and making him do a fair bit of research. He didn’t know everything—and to his credit, he never pretended too.

He didn’t know everything, but to his credit, he never pretended too.

But he always called me back when he had the answer.

And I continued to pour over dozens of scenarios involving our own financial numbers.

Bottom line? It took me 6 months to be comfortable enough to pull the trigger. By that time, I’m sure Rob had long forgotten about me and was surprised when I called him back for another visit. A couple weeks later, we signed on the dotted line and haven’t looked back.

Primerica’s S.m.a.r.t. loan: a quick analysis after two years experience

That was two years ago now. How time flies. And I’m happy to report that (hallelujah) Primerica hasn’t screwed us over. Everything with our mortgage is going according to plan.

Interestingly enough, Rob gave us another call late this September. He was wondering if he could come out and run another FNA–just to see how things were going. So we had him out again. I’m happy to report that our debt to income ratio has dropped to 27%. Hopefully we can keep it going.

This visit we looked at our retirement savings and life insurance policies. Here’s what was most refreshing with Rob’s visit this time. He looked at the performance of our many and scattered mutual funds, and instead of trying to convince us to transfer them to Primerica, he said he recommended we leave them alone. They are all performing at a pretty high rate of return (and have been for some time).

He didn’t think his funds could beat them–and he was honest about that.

But he still wants to sell us Life Insurance. That was in October. I’m researching it. Maybe I’ll have it figured out by April or May.

Stay tuned until then for another report.

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UPDATE 10/30/09: I have refinanced my SMART loan. Did I get another SMART loan from Primerica? Or did I go with a conventional loan from my local bank this time? To find out, click on over to this post.

UPDATE 5/8/09: If you’re here in search of even handed information about other aspects of the Primerica experience (like the opportunity), please visit the first of a series of guests posts written by experienced financial professionals with insider knowledge about Primerica. The second, in this series is found here. As you will see, one of these posts is hot on Primerica, and one of them is cold. These folks know of what they write and have been gracious enough to share that with the rest of us.

UPDATE 3/20/09: If you currently, or have in the past, worked for or represented Primerica, please visit Primerica Opportunity Stories and share your story. People need to here the truth about this company through your experience.

“A mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension.”—Oliver Wendell Holmes

This summer, my family and I had the opportunity to take a trip of a lifetime. The 1st of July, we packed the whole gang, along with Lisa’s parents, into a Scandinavia Airlines 747 and traveled for three and a half weeks in Denmark.

‘Course the problem with a “trip-of-a-lifetime” is that once taken, your brain picks up things. The trip stretches you. You learn things. You might even become a bit savvy. And having done it once, you can’t help but begin to work out how you might do it again—which, of course, means that the whole idea of the trip becomes less “once-in-a-lifetime-ish” and more “let’s-do-this-again-ish.”

The tricks you learn along the way the first time around, make the second trip all the easier.

Today I want to share one of those tricks, because this is one of those almost “too-good-to-be-true” deals. If you’re considering a trip to Europe anytime in the near or even distant future, you need to know about this.

Because learning about the Volvo Overseas Delivery program is pretty cool. But experiencing it completely blows your mind.