Vince Young, Heisman Trophy winner, and captain of one of the greatest college football games of my lifetime, has filed for bankruptcy. Reading this reminded me of the harrowing tale about professional athletes going broke. If we just peer at the four major sports (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA) the average career span is less than five years and It’s evident that a lack of awareness is a large portion of the problem. Whether it be bad investments, or barnacles latching on, an athletes window is too minute to be reckless with their finances.
It’s interesting that some find the need to gather a larger number of attachments, I’ve always assumed that more accessories equals more upkeep and in turn creates greater stress. A friend of mine told me the story of the thief and the monk; I believe there are a couple different versions but this was the one he used.
A thief breaks into a monks home and demands gold coins. The monk replies with an apology and promises if the thief returns at a later date, he would gladly surrender gold coins. The thief returns sometime later and the monk abides, giving the burglar the gold coins he promised. The thief is captured by temple guards and is returned to the monk. The monk insist he has given the thief the gold coins because the thief needs them more than he does. In other words, the thief relies on others, he is attach to them, while the monk has very little attachments and carries less stress.
