The 5 Billion Dollar Question
Oct 10, 2016And we are back, finally! Wow .. what an incredible couple of weeks in the British Virgin Islands. It was our first visit and so we didn’t really know what to expect, but I have to say .. it was FABULOUS!!
Since Susan and I got together, we had 4 children in quite a short space of time and so we never had time for a honeymoon .. in fact, in the last 12 years we’ve never had any vacations on our own without the kids at all.
So this time, we decided we would treat ourselves to something special and booked two weeks on Richard Branson’s private island – Necker. It was like nothing we’ve ever experienced before, the only way I can think to describe it is to say it was truly MAGICAL!!
There are so many great stories I want to share with you, and I will .. but today, I wanted to share just one of the things I found so inspirational about our experience.
During dinner with Richard one night, the conversation started out very polite and somewhat professional, although warm and friendly. Then as the evening progressed and we all drank several glasses of La Crema, Richard became much more funny and mischievous! He was very entertaining and great company. Susan and I kept looking at each other shaking our heads in disbelief .. what were we doing here! Sitting having this great experience with a billionaire who has been a household name my entire life.
We ended up going to bed about 1:30am after a very memorable night!
The next morning at about 6:55am, we passed Richard on his way to play tennis. We were on our way up to the Great House at the top of the island for breakfast. ‘Morning!’ we all said with a smirk!
An hour or so later we were drinking coffee as Richard came in to the Great House for breakfast. He got himself some cereal and sat at the table! He was so down to earth and .. normal .. it was cereal, and he got it himself!
We left shortly afterwards and I set about trying to turn around our golf cart in the narrow road. I was making a complete mess of a 7-point turn when Richard came out to get in his buggy. ‘Looks like you’re going to be there a while!’ he said.
We then followed slightly behind him down the hill. He stopped as a golf cart came up the other way.
‘Good morning!’ he said with a big smile to two ladies who we’d met two days before. Then he reached out and touched one of their hands and said ‘I hope I didn’t say anything to offend you last night, I’d had a couple of glasses of wine!’
‘Not at all’ they both said at the same time, ‘you were hysterical, it was a wonderful night!’
‘Oh good’ he said, then drove off again.
It was so refreshing to see someone who has built up staggering wealth and power and influence in the world, to be so down to earth and so humble and considerate of other people’s feelings. The truth was he was nothing but charming, but one of the ladies was pregnant and not drinking, and so he wanted to make sure she had not been uncomfortable.
Watching the way he interacted with all the staff on Necker was also very wonderful to see. Genuinely interested in them and their families. Going out of his way to great them all personally and hug them.
There was one guest on the island at the beginning of our stay who had probably a very comfortable standard of living, but he was an absolutely horrible person in almost every way! Very rude to all the staff. Drank too much and was aggressive. Very opinionated. Thought he was better than everyone else. Expected to be waited on hand and foot, but nothing was good enough. The contrast between him and Richard was stark.
As we talked about how impressed we were with Richard’s genuine humility, Susan said ‘If we ever get super rich, it would be nice to be that kind and considerate and compassionate to everyone in our lives.’
‘It certainly would’ I agreed.
‘In fact’ she said after a moments reflection, ‘we don’t have to wait until we’re super rich, we can be nice and kind and considerate to everyone, starting right now!’
‘Oh yeah!’ I said.
So that’s what we decided we are going to do our best to do! And that today is the 5 billion dollar question .. Why wait until tomorrow to be the best version of you .. whatever that looks like, and whatever it takes to be that person? It costs nothing to care and be kind, and to touch people's lives in a significant way.
Since Susan and I got together, we had 4 children in quite a short space of time and so we never had time for a honeymoon .. in fact, in the last 12 years we’ve never had any vacations on our own without the kids at all.
So this time, we decided we would treat ourselves to something special and booked two weeks on Richard Branson’s private island – Necker. It was like nothing we’ve ever experienced before, the only way I can think to describe it is to say it was truly MAGICAL!!
There are so many great stories I want to share with you, and I will .. but today, I wanted to share just one of the things I found so inspirational about our experience.
During dinner with Richard one night, the conversation started out very polite and somewhat professional, although warm and friendly. Then as the evening progressed and we all drank several glasses of La Crema, Richard became much more funny and mischievous! He was very entertaining and great company. Susan and I kept looking at each other shaking our heads in disbelief .. what were we doing here! Sitting having this great experience with a billionaire who has been a household name my entire life.
We ended up going to bed about 1:30am after a very memorable night!
The next morning at about 6:55am, we passed Richard on his way to play tennis. We were on our way up to the Great House at the top of the island for breakfast. ‘Morning!’ we all said with a smirk!
An hour or so later we were drinking coffee as Richard came in to the Great House for breakfast. He got himself some cereal and sat at the table! He was so down to earth and .. normal .. it was cereal, and he got it himself!
We left shortly afterwards and I set about trying to turn around our golf cart in the narrow road. I was making a complete mess of a 7-point turn when Richard came out to get in his buggy. ‘Looks like you’re going to be there a while!’ he said.
We then followed slightly behind him down the hill. He stopped as a golf cart came up the other way.
‘Good morning!’ he said with a big smile to two ladies who we’d met two days before. Then he reached out and touched one of their hands and said ‘I hope I didn’t say anything to offend you last night, I’d had a couple of glasses of wine!’
‘Not at all’ they both said at the same time, ‘you were hysterical, it was a wonderful night!’
‘Oh good’ he said, then drove off again.
It was so refreshing to see someone who has built up staggering wealth and power and influence in the world, to be so down to earth and so humble and considerate of other people’s feelings. The truth was he was nothing but charming, but one of the ladies was pregnant and not drinking, and so he wanted to make sure she had not been uncomfortable.
Watching the way he interacted with all the staff on Necker was also very wonderful to see. Genuinely interested in them and their families. Going out of his way to great them all personally and hug them.
There was one guest on the island at the beginning of our stay who had probably a very comfortable standard of living, but he was an absolutely horrible person in almost every way! Very rude to all the staff. Drank too much and was aggressive. Very opinionated. Thought he was better than everyone else. Expected to be waited on hand and foot, but nothing was good enough. The contrast between him and Richard was stark.
As we talked about how impressed we were with Richard’s genuine humility, Susan said ‘If we ever get super rich, it would be nice to be that kind and considerate and compassionate to everyone in our lives.’
‘It certainly would’ I agreed.
‘In fact’ she said after a moments reflection, ‘we don’t have to wait until we’re super rich, we can be nice and kind and considerate to everyone, starting right now!’
‘Oh yeah!’ I said.
So that’s what we decided we are going to do our best to do! And that today is the 5 billion dollar question .. Why wait until tomorrow to be the best version of you .. whatever that looks like, and whatever it takes to be that person? It costs nothing to care and be kind, and to touch people's lives in a significant way.
Until next time ..
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