All posts by Keith Thompson

If you could fast forward, would you do it

Career, Family, Life

When I look at 2020 (so far) I am reminded of the movie Click, with Adam Sandler. The movie (while maybe not intended) had a very powerful message. Be there today. In 2020 the country has experienced some things that have shaken our nation to the core.

I spoke with a friend of mine in New Orleans and we had this conversation regarding hotel real estate in the last 90 days. He tells me that on top of everything else, that hurricane Cristobal is heading straight for New Orleans this Sunday.

So, my point is that if there was ever a period (like in the movie) we would like to fast forward through, it may be the balance of 2020. Ha. The truth is we are going get through this together. The economy (not the tech companies) has been handed a set of circumstances (COVID) no one knows how to handle because no one imagined it could have happened. Except for the beach markets, the hotel industry and most all other commercial industries are holding their breath on what could likely be a very difficult financial year.

In the middle of all that has happened this year, we have been blessed with our third granddaughter and when I hold her, I promise to myself that I will preserver as best I can so she will have a better life. While I don’t know, I suspect that is what the 418,000 United States service men and service women who died fighting in WWII also thought. We all need to leave it better than when we found it and raise our families so they can make it better for the next generation. KT

Enough is sometimes never enough

Career, Life

120 years ago, the two richest men in America battled it out, for the number one slot. John D Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie were vastly more wealthy than any of the tech moguls today. John D was worth at his peak, 300 billion in today’s dollars. Andrew Carnegie was worth at his peak between 350 and 375 billion.

To put that in perspective, depending on stock value, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are considered the two wealthiest people in the world. Bezos at 116 billion and Gates at 100 billion. That means that Rockefeller and Carnegie were worth three rimes what Bezos and Gates are worth.

But that still wasn’t enough for either one of them. The title is “enough is sometimes never enough.” Rockefeller and Carnegie fought like dogs to destroy the other and were vehement enemies. You ask, “they had so much money, why couldn’t they be satisfied with enough.” That is the point. Sometimes, not every time, enough is not enough. These two men fought, strived, battled and probably lost sleep and years of joy over what? Who was going to be the richest?

When you look at sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, weight, food, exercise etc. you can see what I mean. When you start down that road, it is common to think, just a little more, and that will be enough. I will use a silly example, so I don’t have to get into the real important issues mentioned above. Let say you like Cheetos. You buy a big bag and carry it over to your chair while you watch TV. You say to yourself; I am just going to eat a few. Well, you eat a few and then eat a few more and before you know it, half the bag is gone. Then you say well, I might as well finish them off, so you eat the whole bag. You just wolfed down 4k calories in one sitting because enough was not enough? Ha

In life we need to set boundaries in everything we do. There needs to be a stopping point. Forrest Gump started out running down the driveway and ended a few months later, running across America. Ha. That is not what we do in real life. If you are a runner, everyone knows you decide before you start, how far you will run that day. No runner just goes out and runs until he gets tired. No one.

The point is, in the real issues of life, find satisfaction in enough. You will find that people with the most joy, best sleep and greatest satisfaction are the ones you said, enough is enough. KT

Rooms in our homes and life

Life

We all have areas and rooms in our homes that we see every day and every day we just walk by them. Last night we were getting ready for bed and I had to go down the hall to our kitchen. We have a seldom used step down living room in the middle of our house that has arched windows with ceiling heights around 20 feet. This room is only used when we have large gatherings and holidays etc.

So, last night I was walking by that room and just paused to really look at it. It was dark outside, and the moon light was shining just right through those arched windows and the room looked beautiful. My favorite movie of all time is White Christmas with Bing Crosby and in the movie, the old lodge had arched windows very similar to those in our house. While I was looking at that room last night, I thought about White Christmas and how that time circa was simpler and the problems of the world (seemed) less significant. I just took a moment looking at that room with a new focus and appreciation.

I also thought about the rooms (some are hidden) in our lives that we see every day and every day we just walk by. Some of those rooms hold good memories and some of those rooms hold unpleasant memories and secrets. I have found It is important in our life to settle the rooms with unpleasant memories and secrets. If we don’t, one day we will be walking through the rooms of our life and won’t have the option but to stop and resolve it. Many people think that just ignoring the problem will make it go away, but this practice seldom resolves the issues. Look at the rooms in your life and choose to get them straightened up and cleaned out.

Last night (in my mind) I named that room in our house, the White Christmas room because it creates such good memories for me with all my family being there during a joyous holiday season. Hopefully you will also have rooms in your house/life that bring to mind good memories and joyous times. KT

New vocabulary words

Career

Due to COVID we have some new vocabulary words never heard before or words that were rarely ever used. A few examples are Pandemic, COVID-19, green shoots, social distancing, flatline, reopening the economy, recovery, ventilator, N95 face mask and path to profitability. These words are all in response to the COVID crisis that has gripped our nation, lives and economy.

The news outlets refer to such terms as, buzzwords or sound bites. Meaning they are new to the conversations and applicable to this time period. In two or three years you probably will not hear many of these terms again.

It always tickles me when someone comes up with a new term and everyone jumps on the word and uses it repeatedly to show how smart and current they are. I remember back in the 2003-2005 time period when everyone in business started using the term, space, to define their business. It was used in a sentence like, “in our industry space we have traction that is accretive to yield.” Sounds almost stupid doesn’t it? Well that is how new terminology starts. My favorite new term for COVID is “green shoots.” The term was first used in 1991 to describe signals of economy recovery in a downturn. In the last 29 years, I don’t believe the term has been used again until now.

With every historic event, there are new word terms that get created to explain the situation. They are generally short lived and not used again until the next event. I find that the old ways and old terminology still work just fine. If I want to really sound like a goober, I could use the terms, space and green shoots in the same sentence. Ha. KT

Your family

Family

During this COVID time most every email or conversation starts with the question, “how is your family?” It is interesting that the first and most important question is in fact the most important thing in our lives. It’s our family.

This past weekend we had all our children, son in-laws and grandchildren (and four dogs) at our lake house. For three days we forgot about COVID and celebrated the lives of our family. We grilled out, watched movies, talked, laughed and rode WaveRunners on the Lake. I had my cell phone turned off most the weekend because all the ones I love most, were there with me.

In the news lately, there have been a lot of young adults that have died. I don’t remember every seeing so many young deaths in the news. They were from car wrecks, overdoses and even heart failure. The next time someone asks how your family is doing, remember to say a silent prayer of thanksgiving for those closest to you. They are more important than any deal, investment, job etc. They are the very reason you (hopefully) have joy in your heart today.

A dad with older daughters, greatest wish/hope is that they are safe, happy, prosperous, married to good men and going to be ok in life. KT