We wanted to share the following Forbes article with you to give an example of how looking at broad indices like the Dow Jones can sometimes tell a misleading story: http://onforb.es/xlQpKi.  Make sure to take caution when researching and always understand the fundamentals that underlie the headline!

Note: David Richmond is currently in the Philippines at the Lingap Center.

I had to pass along that I am witnessing the preparation of food for 5,000 people. It is amazing what happens here in spite of the difficulties. Our staff is preparing food; those not watching the children will work the next 36 hours almost without a break; the cooking will last until dawn. They are cooking over a wood burning camp fire cooking huge pots of pork, chicken, and rice. It is amazing to watch it. They are working so hard. It is hot, smoky, and they do it without complaint and without asking for a nickel for the extra work. It is done with pride that the [Lingap] center hosts 3rd Saturday [outreach] where we have mass and a soup kitchen. It is an amazing witness to serving those even less fortunate than themselves. I learn so much here.

Note: For those just reading, Dave is in the Philippines visiting the Lingap Center.

The city [Toledo City] had its 52nd birthday today and while we were mentioned in the speech by the vice president of the Philippines, and met him, it was not the highlight of the day for me. The highlight was reflecting back on the determination this city shows for progress. I have been coming here since 2006 and in the six years I have been coming, they have showed tremendous progress. They have built many roads, extended electricity into the neighborhoods/townships, and built two (the first two) malls. They opened their first hotel and are making it so others want to invest in Toledo City. They got a new power plant built along with a new city hall. They announced today a plan to build 73 new classrooms to help with the overcrowding of the public schools. All of this progress in spite of the fact they had little resources to begin this process with. They don’t have much now and way more demands than there are resources. Governing is about picking and choosing while moving the city forward and making progress. I am seeing it here and it is inspiring to see. Congratulations Toledo City and well done! Continue to work for the people you serve and we will continue to be proud of you.

Note: David Richmond has been in the Philippines since December 31. His recent contemplations are below.

Father Geoff just finished a 90 minute retreat. It was fantastic – so practical and applicable. I think he should record every presentation and make them available to purchase for download!

How many times do we spend our time fretting over what happened or worried about will happen instead of living today? Do we celebrate the positive things that happen today? Do we celebrate the difficulties of today knowing that with them comes great learning opportunity? Father Geoff shared a thought from St. Francis de Sales: Do not look forward to what might happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow and everyday. Either He will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

I believe part of living a life of gratitude is celebrating our experiences in life and through that understanding the abundance in our daily life. It is there but we seldom celebrate it. Our culture moves us to the next thing, the next achievement, the next “goal” to worry about. Matt and I are preparing for an upcoming opportunity to plan and open our minds for our company. In this process I got information on the presenter…he wrote a book so I ordered the book to get to understand who will be presenting or at least one of his ideas, if not the complete man. His name is Lee Brower and he wrote a book called The Brower Quadrant. He uses an example of what I am speaking about. He asks high achieving people to name five positive things that have happened in their life in the last 90 days…and several have trouble, one forgot a new grandchild, another that they had made a major gift (of $150,000); it wasn’t that these life events weren’t important but rather they were so busy in the busyness of life that they could not stop to celebrate long enough to make it an experience they will take with them the rest of their lives. How many times are we guilty of this?

I am blessed. My life overflows with abundance. Could I use more time, money, etc….sure focusing only on what is absent or what I could use more of would be an insult to the resources that I do have and incredible life I get to live.

As you come to the [Lingap] center you get plugged back into the fact that we have overflowing abundance in our lives. We have it in flowing water that we can drink and use to bath. We have electricity to light our way and make it safer to illuminate our lives. Most of us have sewers and/or drain fields to remove things best not suited for our immediate presence once it has passed us by. And we don’t worry about keeping food safe due to a lack of refrigeration. These are all abundant blessings I get to enjoy everyday before I even leave for work.

Below are my five positive events in the past 90 days…so hard to narrow it to just five. Numbers 1 and 2 are professional; 3 is spiritual; 4 and 5 are personal.

1.  We came through the transition to Registered Investment Adviser and moved over $130 million dollars in less than 30 days – quite an accomplishment. Not without hiccups but those were manageable. All in all it was an achievement to celebrate.

2.  2011 was Richmond Brothers’ best year ever for assets under management, assets gathered and highest rating of client satisfaction. That is in spite of the four most difficult years in the market in a row since the 1930′s. What is most important to me is the relationships we are building for our clients. The achievements are simply the results of the relationships we are building. The Registered Investment Adviser move will simply let us leverage that even more in the next 12-24 months and the following three to five years clients should continue to see better performance (given the markets), better management of their assets, and that should in turn mean the best five years ever for Richmond Brothers. The order of priority though remains the same; take care of clients and then (and only then) they will take care of you.

3.  Clarity: I continue to become aware of what is important and what is important to disassociate with. Father Geoff summed it up today what are you attached to that is so important to you it is taking you away from what is truly important. In the end a more powerful business, the money, and the status cannot be take on the journey we will all take some day. So what are we sacrificing to make that the journey of this world or is it balanced with what will get us to the next? I am still on the journey but I am learning and growing. It is a struggle and it is messy but I am comfortable with my being uncomfortable. I think in this tension is where opportunity for growth lies. I am still finding my way in this world but I did a better job in the 4th quarter of 2012 living more days outside my comfort zone and that is a good thing.

4.  Health and fitness: I gained clarity that if you don’t take care of yourself you cannot serve others. As many of you know I have struggled with weight and fitness. I made a great beginning of 2011 but fell off the wagon yet again. However, I did not view this as a failure. Instead I have come to understand that I cannot win this battle without first surrendering. It is not a matter of trying harder, doing better, it is a matter of a paradigm shift mentally. It is not about perfection but progress. Am I making progress? It is about preparation not the result. I have heard this for the past 10+ years but I did not hear it and it never made it to my heart or soul. I connected the dots of this during a spiritual act (Confession for you Catholics); life is not about perfection but progress. While we want the relentless pursuit of perfection what we should focus on is not its attainment but the progress along the way.

5.  Engaging: I have been married to the most beautiful bride for the past 14 years and dated her for 21. She is a rock of support and dedication. Through the rut of daily life, kids, sports, practices, boards, a business, trips to the other side of the planet to serve those less fortunate, she is there, holding me up, standing beside me and when necessary holding me up. I need to feed this relationship, treat her like I did 21 years ago. My heart still races when it is time to see her but do I tell her? How do I show it?  We are fortunate we live life passionately, we do tell each other every single day we love each other, but, BUT, do I go that extra mile, leave a note on her car, put rose petals on the bed, or simply send her a card or do laundry to lighten her burden. The answer is yes, but not enough, and I felt the love of our relationship stir in the past 90 days. A desire to do more and show her a love we felt and still feel over two decades later. Some things get better with time and we celebrated this in the 4th quarter of 2011 and I will find a way to ensure this stays in my top five. (NOTE:  she has already commented via email about the cards she has received since I have been gone, what a surprise they were and how meaningful they were to her).

What are your top five? Feel free to email and let me know (dave@richmondbrothers.com).

I don’t know why I get to lead a life so blessed. To be able to be exposed to so many varied things in this world but I know God has a plan. I won’t spend today worrying about it or even try to figure it out. I will simply prepare today to take life in, savor it, celebrate the good and the bad experiences, and look each day for the abundance that I know overflows. I hope you will do the same. God Bless and Peace.

Onward.

Note: 12 year old Taylor, David Richmond’s daughter, traveled to the Philippines with him. Her feelings and reflections are below.

12/31/2011

The last day of 2011….

This was a good day!! It was full of emotions. Emotions like love, happiness, anxiety, sleepiness, and fun! At 7:45 after a long day of traveling yesterday half way across the world we met in the lobby in Manila. We had breakfast with Mauro and Bing.  They are friends of ours from Manila. They know Tito John and Mauro sits on the Filipino Board for the Lingap Center. They are so nice. Who knew I would have a friend the age of my grandparents half a world away???! Breakfast was good, our last American type breakfast for a week! We took a cab to the airport and then we were off to the airport!  We had a nice flight to Cebu and then an agonizingly long drive to the Center. We arrived at the Lingap Center around 5 p.m. The kids sang wonderful greeting songs for about half-an-hour. They performed dances, presentations and an individual song.  After this we went to our rooms to take our luggage and put it away. I am not a family with room 5 girls. The girls in room 3 were sad/mad as I have stayed there the previous two years; off to dinner we went where I gave all my food (except the rice) to my roommates. Room 5 is made up of Elvira, Aileen, Jade, and several others. They were surprised that I don’t eat much (little do they know….) but were grateful for the extra food. We went into room 5 but the boys wanted pictures. I shared my iPod and phone and they played my games. They really had fun with them; then a houseparent said it was time to celebrate New Year’s Eve and to go outside. It was the noisiest New Year’s Eve I’ve ever heard, little trumpets blowing louder than thunder!!! We talked until quarter to 9 and then we all fell asleep.

Taylor

P.S. It was really hard to sleep because there were fire crackers (1/4 sticks my dad said) going off all night and people yelling and screaming along with lots of loud music and singing. It was a wonderful day!!!

1/1/2012

The first day of the New Year…what a great way to spend it! I had a long and fun day today. I ate breakfast (rice).  Room 5 was still confused why I did not eat. Half an hour later Gene Marie, Jacqueline and I washed clothes (by hand) and then we ate lunch. After lunch we had a Christmas party for the street kids and Lingap Wards. Someone had donated presents (one stuffed bear – I think Queen’s bible school-made, and a used toy or action figure were their presents). American kids just don’t get how lucky they are.  Presents were an after thought of this party. There was food, dancing (lots of dancing) and really loud music. They played games and just spent time together. For the street kids many said it was their first present for Christmas ever! When they handed the presents out most of the kids waited until everyone had one (about a 20 minute process) and then they all opened together. The party lasted about 5 hours and they did presents for only about 5 minutes. The rest of time was spent just hanging out together. The street kids are really nice kids and extremely grateful for the food and gifts.

After the gifts they did karaoke and they got me up on stage to sing. My heart sank but I really liked it. Afterward I was so tired…from the heat, humidity, and all the fun we had.  I stayed awake until 8:40 and then I passed out! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

1/2/2012

We went on home visits today. They are an emotional time. My dad says it is good to see where the kids lived and where they came from but it is also difficult to see the circumstances they had to endure. We don’t know how lucky we are in the USA. Most of my friends have never had the experience I am getting to see the world like this, unfiltered and as it is. So my friends don’t have a clue what it is like. We hear about the poor and poverty but I have seen it. My dad and Mr. Drake say this is only one face of poverty as some is much worse and others not as bad. To me this is so different from what we are used to in the USA. Things we take for granted like a bathroom, running water, a house that doesn’t flood, and the ability to refrigerate food. I have never worried about these things and yet here it is normal not to have any of it. There are no nets here…if you get sick and are poor (can’t afford care) you die. It is that simple. It is so different from what we have and yet I think we don’t get that. I am grateful to come and see. They sung a song today…that Fr. Geoff taught them…Open my eye’s Lord so I can see, Open my ears lord so I can hear your voice, open my heart lord…I am so grateful that I get to come here and see and feel; even though it is hard.

I don’t want to tell you they are sad…it is bad things they have to live with but they are not sad…they are happy even though they don’t have anything. They are willing to share what they have. They invite us into their “home” and want us to come in. They want their picture taken…They are such warm people. We saw poverty today that my books talk about. There are people and faces behind that word…but they are still people. In many ways they are more advanced than we are…they don’t have games, TV, and other things to take their time so they talk, play games with each other, and build friendships. I love the Lingap Center and I love coming here.

1/3/2012

I was starving for pancakes but I got rice. We watched movies, slept, did our nails (the adults from the USA went to the store to get supplies), we played bingo and they yelled and screamed! It was quite fun. We ate lunch and took a nap…I slept all the way until dinner!

1/4/2012

At breakfast I was so nervous but it turned out to be an awesome day….why was I nervous…I went to school with the kids! I went to TNVS (Toledo National Vocational School) in the morning and I went to St. John’s around 1:15 for the afternoon. The teachers were very nice. I really liked it. I was bored out of my mind though because it was mostly all review. Between the two schools I came back to the center to eat. I stopped into my dad’s room and Father Geoff saved me with some almonds and my dad gave me a protein shake. I was so hungry. I can begin (just begin) to get an idea of what it would feel like to not eat. Here it is my choice because I am picky and don’t like the food but many here can’t afford food or cook it outside and if it rains they cannot cook so they simply don’t eat. It is very sad.

Good news is the Carpentero twins who were a week from death last year on my trip in January are healthy and one is even a bit chubby as an 18 month old should be. Last year I could not bear to look at them as she lay dying in her despicable surroundings, feces and garbage all over and a child alone, without a parent, dying of starvation and today they are healthy and normal. It is a miracle. If the Lingap Center did not exist those two would have died…they were literally saved.