Rocky Mountain High? Not This Time

What is our obsession with getting something for nothing?

I have yet to meet a person who didn't like getting a bargain, or getting something for free. I happen to know extremely wealthy people like Joe Vitale even like getting a "deal."

I'm not immune from it either.

My husband had been seeing ads around town for a $49 weekend in Breckenridge. Of course, it was one of those deals where you had to attend a timeshare presentation in order to get the deal.

Now we've gotten suckered into buying timeshare not once, but THREE TIMES, so I was not too excited when he mentioned it. We finally sold off our last week of timeshare (Hawaii), so I am not inclined to get any new ones.

I suppose timeshare makes sense for some people, but not for us. We rarely stay a whole week in 1 spot (unless it's a condo on the beach). We're more inclined to spend a few days here, a few days there, adn we've also been known to change (extend) our trip once we get there. Timeshares are not really conducive to that kind of freedom.

And of course we got totally screwed on the resale. I think we lost something like $15,000 on the whole deal. Not to mention the several thousand we paid in annual maintenance fees.

But I digress.

Anyway, I was sort of noncommittal every time he brought up the subject of one of these weekend in Breckenridge deals. My response was typically something to the effect of, "Hmmm. Maybe."

But a couple of weeks ago, we were at the Front Range Showcase in Castle Rock (remember, I told you that's where I met my new massage therapist?) and there was a booth with this timeshare deal and it was FREE.

That's right, FREE. You got an entire weekend in Breckenridge, just for attending a 90-minute, no-pressure pitch.

Like I said, everybody loves a deal. So we signed up, and here we are this weekend.

Free is NOT always a good thing.

For starters, I am not impressed with the place where they put us up. It's new, so everything is clean and fresh, but the rooms are small and the decor is boring (beige on brown). So if you make it out to Breckenridge, I would SKIP the Breck Inn. I will say, the hot tub was nice, large and covered, so we brought the baby in her carrier while the 3 of us enjoyed a nice soak.

The other factor is that this weekend's weather sucks, which really put a damper on our intention to do lots of shopping (no indoor malls here -- everything is strip-style). Hubby went skiing on Friday and only lasted an hour, because the slopes went from ice to slush. Yikes!

What's worse is that our baby is not sleeping much at night -- she is waking every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to feed, which is really cramping our style. Fortuantely, we're starting rice cereal as soon as we get back home, so that should definitely help. I am just totally unprepared for this, as she is now five months old, and our older daughter was sleeping through the night starting at 9 weeks. Anyway, back to the trip.

For some reason, my 3 year old decided to be a pill on Saturday morning, so we were pretty stressed by the time we all got out of the hotel. But things picked up after that.

The highlights? He did take our 3 year old sledding, and I got some quiet time to think while baby was sleeping. Somehow it is easier to "think" in a hotel room, where no phone is ringing and no errands are waiting. I created a couple of significant breakthroughs, and also got clear on what there is to work on next.

Yesterday we did find a darling Children's 'Museum' in Breckenridge. I use the word "museum" loosely because it was more like a slightly educational play house. Let's just say their website does a great job of sellingn it. But our 3 year old had a blast, we met some nice folks (including one couple who wants more info on Andy's home-based business) and even the baby found some interesting stuff to play with.

Last night, we had a very good meal at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co (go figure). All those shrimp provided a much-needed taste of home.

Today I'm off to the Coach store to find a wallet to match my new handbag (and I'm also in search of a laptop case. Does Coach make those?? We'll find out today.) and hit a couple of other shops in the area, then we'll find some lunch and head over to attend hte timeshare presentation. We met a couple lats night who said it was OK, not high pressure, so we'll see.

do me a favor though -- if I write tomorrow and tell you that I got suckered into buying, SHOOT ME. Seriously.

Hmmm, so what does any of this have to do with Success? I'm so glad you asked.

Here are the lessons as I see them:

1 - Demand the best. Deepak Chopra talks about this -- prosperous people demand the best. If I had followed that advice, I would hvae told my hubby "screw the freebie, let's just go stay in Breckenridge at someplace nice for the weekend."

2 - Don't do something just because it's free. It's one thing to get a deal or a freebie on something you were planning to get anyway, but when you get or do something JUST because it's free, well, then you never know what you'll get. Wealthy people are willing to exchange value for value -- WILLING is the key word. I had no plans to go to Breck until I heard about teh deal. I was not WILLING to exchange for it. Get the difference?

3 - Don't take your own lifestyle for granted. Working for yourself affords you a certain level of freedom that other people simply can't get. As we met people adn chatted, I heard all sorts of stories from people who say they can't afford this or that, would love to go to Australia "someday," and can't imagine what it would be like if BOTH parents could work from home. It made me appreciate what I have, and I was reminded not to take my lifestyle for granted.

I'm sure there are otehr lessons, but that is what comes to mind at the moment.

Your QoD:

What are YOU taking for granted in your own life? How can you reconnect with all the blessings you have, and appreciate all that is yours and all that is coming? Until you can accept and be grateful for what is so RIGHT NOW, you can't create anything differently for what's next.

Go for it!