Michael Phelps made history over the weekend. The 23-yr-old from Baltimore now has 8 gold medals from the Beijing Olympics. So is this guy a golden child, raised in an ideal life with every advantage coming his way? It doesn’t appear to be so. As a little boy Michael was diagnosed with ADHD. He started swimming at age 7 to have an outlet for his excess energy. When he was 9 his parents divorced. At 19 he was arrested for driving under the influence. He has “attended” college between 2004 and 2008 but doesn’t plan to graduate anytime soon. His friends call him “Gomer” because of his resemblance to the good-natured country boy played by Jim Nabors. He eats around 12,000 calories a day (about five times more than the average adult male) to keep up with his amazing level of activity. He’s already been making approximately $5 million per year in endorsements, and the 8 gold medals have earned him a $1 million bonus from his sponsor, Speedo.
Michael Phelps — Golden Child?
Shorts vs Panties
This morning I opened a new pack of undershorts that Joanne picked up for me. Wow – seven pairs of new Fruit of the Loom shorts. Out of curiosity I asked her what she paid for these. She said it was $5.99 for the pack of seven. Okay that’s $.85 each – and these babies have double stitching, the extra overlap for the trap door that we guys need – all in all just a real classy piece of workmanship.
The Open Road — or a Dead-End Street?
Saturday afternoon the now famous 36-ft green RV with the RoadTripNation crew aboard rolled back our long country lane here in Franklin, TN. They are making the 08 trip from California to Maine and wanted to talk with my son Jared (Sisters of Rwanda director) – who lives in Rwanda but is currently here in Nashville. What an interesting group! Three long-time buddies graduated from college and began asking the common question “what do I want to do with my life?” They are now interviewing people who have found their passion. They were determined to expose themselves to more than just the traditional life roads. Like the original RTN gang they hopped in a green RV and hit the road to talk with inspiring people from all walks of life to find out how they came to do what they love for a living.
Dan's Diner
It’s big news in this community that Nissan has finally moved 1500 employees into their new headquarters here in Franklin, TN. And then the Nashville Tennessean had an article last Sunday stating that there are 150 places to have lunch within a one mile radius of the new Nissan building. 150 places to eat lunch!
"Social Entrepreneurship"
Many of you have asked to hear more about “social entrepreneurship.” I have mentioned this frequently over the last couple of years as a growing example of being able to “do good” while “doing well.” What I mean by that is that you can change the world, address pollution, poverty, share the gospel, make the world a better place – you get to decide what your passion is – and MAKE MONEY in the process.
