Eveyone Pays the Toll on The Road of Life

Life is a toll road and everyone pays the toll in one way or another.  What this means is, in life, everything you do has its price.  Every action or choice you make throughout your existence has consequences or results that have a direct impact on who you are and the outcome of your life. The choices you make determine how you pay the toll on the road of life.

 Let me give you a few examples.

 Two Types of Lifestyle Choices and How Each Pays the Toll

 The “Couch Potato”

 Take the stereotypical “couch potato.” This person has a sedentary job, comes home with fast food, and watches the television until it’s time to go to bed. They’re overweight, get no exercise and they have no motivation, drive or ambition.

 This type of person pays their toll in several ways:

1. They squander their time. The time we’re allotted to spend on this earth is finite. We cannot buy, barter or steal any more time. Once it is used, we can’t get it back. The best we can do is to make the most of every moment. The couch potato wastes all of their time, never realizing its true value.
2. In addition, the person that lives this type of lifestyle pays the toll through poor heath. As I mentioned in my previous post, The Warrior’s Way of Life, one in three Americans are obese. Another study by the National Institute of Health shows that 65% of adults in this country are obese. The list of associated health risks with obesity is long and many of them are life threatening. According to the CDC, an estimated 300,000 premature deaths a year can be attributed to obesity. Some of the risks of obesity are listed below. Click on this link to Anne Collins’ website for more details on these health risks:
   •     Heart Disease
   •     Stroke
   •     Type 2 Diabetes
   •     Cancer
   •     Fatty Liver Disease
   •     Chronic Venous Insufficiency
   •     Deep Vein Thrombosis
   •     Arthritis
   •     Increased Health Risks for Expectant Mother and Baby
   •     Gallbladder Diseas
   •     Premature Death
3. Low self esteem and depression are another way that this type of person can pay the toll. American society places a high emphasis on physical appearance. Many obese people feel isolated and have a more difficult time advancing in their careers. Scientists have also found that excessive weight causes a chemical and hormonal imbalance that can lead to depression.

 The “Go-Getter”

 Now let’s look at the individual at the other end of the spectrum. The Stereotypical “go-getter”. This person typically is physically fit, has a high paying job or owns a successful business, drives a nice car and owns a big house. Most people believe that this type of person is “living the life” and typically has everything handed to them on a silver platter. They don’t believe that this person has ever paid a toll in their life.

 Let me show you how they do:

1. Just like the couch potato, the go-getter also pays the toll with their time. However, they use their time very differently than the couch potato. The go-getter invests their time into education and personal development. This person is generally the “A” student in school, they went to an Ivy League or tier one college, and continue to read, improve and educate themselves after college. Many work 12-15 hours per day! They are usually out of bed by 5:00 a.m. to workout because it’s the only time that fits their busy schedule.
2. Another way the go-getter pays the toll is through hard work and self discipline. They are continually setting goals and taking action to achieve them. They generally have the endurance to persevere where most would give up and quit. As their name suggests, the go-getter realizes that success is never given away, it is earned. Instead of waiting for good things in life to come to them, they go out and get them.

 You Can Choose How to Pay the Toll

 Both of the individuals in these examples have paid the toll in very different ways. The couch potato may have benefited from relaxation early on but was forced to pay the toll after with the price of poor health, low self esteem and an uneventful life. The second paid the toll up front through hard work and discipline and enjoyed success, health and prosperity later. Nevertheless, both paid the toll.

 “Life is a toll road and everyone pays the toll. However, you can choose how to you would like to pay!”

 Personal Action Exercises

• Take a look everyday at the choices you make in life. Decide if this is how you want to pays your toll. If it isn’t, resolve to make the necessary changes to pay the toll on your terms.
• From this day forward, decide exactly what it is you want from your life. Write down your goals and dreams and then decide how much they’re worth to you to achieve them. Then decide how you’ll pay the toll to get them.

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