12 days of Christmas

There was a knock at the door, but when I went to answer it, no one was there. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ This time of year is always very emotional for me because there was a time not long ago when I lost everything. In fact, it was worse than everything—I was an upside-down millionaire. I was the husband, the father, and the man that couldn't take care of his family. But it turns out I had to lose everything to find me. My trial by fire, if you will, happened around the time of the 2008 recession. And my moment of clarity occurred as I sat crying in the kitchen with gratitude. But I'm getting slightly ahead of myself. If you've been following my emails for a bit, you might remember that I had gone from being a financial advisor preaching the same old stuff about saving your way to retirement to becoming financially free by the time I was 28. I was supposed to have all of the answers—but it turns out I was just as blindsided by the housing market crash as everyone else was. It got so bad that my wife was wondering if she should pack up the kids and move to her sister's basement until I got my shit together. There is no greater feeling of despair for a man than not being able to do "our job" and provide for his family. Here we were living in this big, beautiful home with nice cars in the garage, but we couldn't afford to make the house payments. I had to rely on welfare to keep food on the table. On the outside, we projected that everything was fine, but on the inside, I was broken—I didn't know what to do. And it was Christmas. Somehow word got out that we were struggling. There was a knock at the door, but when I went to answer it, no one was there. Instead on our front step was a roasted turkey. The next day, we found two chocolate turtle doves—the next, three Cornish game hens. Our neighbors were secretly feeding us in their own version of the 12 Days of Christmas. My family was blessed with the greatest game of ding-dong ditch ever. On the eighth day, we found eight quarts of milk on the porch. It had been a particularly hard day. I took the milk to our kitchen table, which was toward the back of the house. And I started crying. I felt this outpouring of emotion both for the struggle I was going through and because I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for the anonymous generosity of this neighbor. In the morning, I opened the back door and found footprints in the snow. Normally you'd be pretty creeped out by that, but I realized our Christmas Elf had rung the bell on the front door and run around the house before I had opened the door to receive their gift. I like to imagine they saw us crying at our kitchen table with gratitude for their generosity. I hope it filled their heart with happiness to know how much they had touched our hearts that holiday season. It changed my life forever. It's why I give so much of my time and knowledge to help as many people become financially free as I possibly can. Especially around this time of year, when it seems every big bill comes due and we sometimes struggle to give our family the best Christmas we possibly can—even when we feel like "this isn't the best time to be spending money." Over the next few days, I'd like to spend some time sharing some things I hope will help you find clarity on how the little things we do each day can make a huge impact on our own lives and the lives of those we hold dear. Until then, can you think of a moment in your life when you were blessed with generosity? Or even a moment when you helped someone else find magic in a time of need. How did it make you feel? With gratitude, Chris [CASHFLOW CALCULATOR]( [INFINITE BANKING]( [CASHFLOW CONSULTING]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Youtube]( Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( Money Ripples, 2503 S 800 W, Mapleton, United States