WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT GRATITUDE FROM A COUNTRY SONG AND JOE BIDEN

Many of us aren't grateful enough.

We don't fully grasp the importance of gratitude. It's such an easy, simple take-it-for granted thing.

No, this isn't going to be another of those motivational pieces that makes you feel great for the next 30 seconds or until your IBS flares up again. This is much more serious.

Country songs, especially the slower ones, usually tell a story. Often a heart-ripping one.

A few years ago on the backroads of my more energetic youth I first learned about the magical power of gratitude. I'll try to make this brief and not too heavy or sad.


Me and my significant other, as they say, had tried and tried and tried.Things got bad, they got worse and I had no idea what to do. Then one day driving home from work in my big white Ford F-150 with the Montana mud flaps, moose antlers on the hood and the empty gun rack in the back, I heard it on the radio for the first time, a song about a guy and his significant other.

Like us they had tried and tried. He grit his teeth, tried not to complain. While she continued to spend money like it was so much falling rain. And one day without warning or cause she announced it was pack-up the suitcase time. 

He sounded more than sad about it as he put her bags in the truck and headed for the bus station. After he dropped her off, he just sat there in silence until the bus slowly pulled out of sight. 

That's when it really hit him. It was finally final. She was gone. Every time I think about that song it makes me appreciate gratitude even more. Especially the chorus: "Thank God and Greyhound. You're gone."

For me it was Amtrac. And all I can say is, thank God and Joe Biden for government subsidies.

So here's an investing tip. Make sure your exit strategy's in place. But it's mobile. You can move it. If it goes off, be grateful you have some cash to get a better position. If you miss it, so what.

Opportunities are a lot like IBS. You never know when they're going to show up. But you always have to be ready.