Once upon a time, shortly after the royal wedding, a baby dragon nested outside of the King and Queen’s castle. Much like the King and Queen, the dragon was cute and very fun. So the King and Queen fed the dragon – a little bit over a long period of time. One day, with no written notice, the dragon had grown so large that it blocked the castle’s drawbridge. The King and Queen were not free. The King and Queen were trapped. The young monarchs knew they were feeding the dragon, but its growth from one day to the next was hardly noticable. It turns out that baby dragons when fed over a long period of time, grow into ominous fire breathing beasts.
And so goes our story. The dragon’s story is an allegory to our relationship with debt. When we were faced with a debt dragon at the door, who threatened every chance at financial peace we had, we found ourselves with two choices. Give up and keep feeding the dragon or starve that lizard out. We chose the latter. Scary. Seemingly impossible. Fortunately, we had the wisdom of Chuck D and his friends from Public Enemy on our side.
Don’t Believe the Hype. When you do things to fend off a debt dragon as large as ours such as avoiding restaurants, you hear voices. Maybe the voices are friends, family, co-workers, the media, or even in your own head. Eating at restaurants is normal. When you question the norm, you are questioned. The pressure of voices can be powerful. Fight the Power. Always question the norm. Being free from the dragon forever is much more important than the temporal satisfaction of a single meal out. The cumulative effect of the money saved from avoiding several meals out is like starving the dragon. It turns out that debt dragons, when starved over a long period of time, shrink into not so ominous, not so fiery nuisances that eventually will altogether disappear.
Today, I did not eat at a restaurant.
