Bankrupt at 55, Successful at 65

He just turned 67 last October 30. How grateful I was on that day, and been thanking God the whole day for another birthday celebration we're giving for my Dad, who is still strong and healthy for his age. Yes, sometimes he has some bouts of his allergies but through God's grace he 's able to manage it and still is motivated, inspired and focused to work in the wee hours of the night, until even the sun shines on his ever proud forehead.

The Passion
You're probably guessing what he does. No, he's neither a security guard, nor a call center agent to be working that late. It's his own business he's working for. I remember when he told me 5 years ago, "I'll never stop working to the last of my breath".  However, knowing he's on his sixty's, I would rather like to see him resting and enjoying the prime of his life than still working late in the night....and my mom told me then," your father's passion is work, so just understand."

It was only when I've read "8 Secrets of the Truly Rich" and some more books of Bo Sanchez   http://www.bosanchez.ph/  ,  that I've totally understood about my Dad's passion . His passion to work, to pursue his dream and to become successful once again. With that understanding about my Dad, within me also blossomed a deep admiration to him that he was able to get up and walk again from the fall of bankruptcy in our bakery business which had been our bread and butter for years while the eight of us, their children were heading up to school every day. Some of us now have our own family life and we have finished our schooling through all the efforts of my Dad, together with my Mom.

The Secret Ingredient and the Twister
In the books of Bo that I've read, one thing that created a big impact to me is "The Power of Focus . I realized how powerful it is to be in "focus". I think this is what my Dad has. He only finished second year high school. Got married at age 21 and started working as a bakery helper and through his diligence, patience and focus on his dream, he has learned the craft in bakery business.

He was able to worked abroad as a Bakery Production Manager while he was able to put up our own bakery here. Years later he came back to the Philippines and assisted my Mom in letting our business grow. It has been very successful then. Successful enough for them to be able to send the eight of us to College, was able to build a 3-story house with ten big rooms, bought cars, and was able to branched out two more bakeries. But because none of our parents had the financial intelligence, and some of us were still finishing College then, when a slow turn of tide hit our family, it seemed like a twister that had given us a big blow. We lost our house, cars, bakeries, and all our finances. We went down to negative zero balance. My Dad then was at the age of 55. It took a few years of trying to pick up the pieces again and together we stood on our faith as each one was dreaming. Then, we (his children) had started to work on our own chosen career, and everyone decided that we will just share and sum up everything as a share for our parents finances. But my Dad insisted on putting up again a bakery business. We told him, it's not possible anymore, he's already old, he has not enough capital to start it again, and it is hard to find a cheaper space to put it , and he needs helpers/workers.  None in the family entertained his plan of putting up again his dream. But to our surprise, with just 5 kilos of flour and some other ingredients, he started it again, until slowly, it grows big and bigger. Big enough that he was able to get and pay a helper, a saleslady, and bought some stuff for his General Merchandise and Bakery business.

The Dreamer

At his age of 65, I saw my Dad's dreams starting to materialize again. Now he's extending his bakery business with another room space,   and plans to teach people who are passionate in bakery business. He plans to have a school of baking. This time, how can we disagree again? He already proved us wrong. Now we all know, as long as you have the power of focus and you use your core gift, success will never say to you that a senior citizen is already a late age to start dreaming.

The Successful Senior Citizen
My Dad never gets tired, never gets disappointed when it comes to working and dreaming, and that is the reason why, to his age now, he's still up and about in the wee hours of the night. Though not all the time, his helper does the work for him, but still, his passion is there.
He may have not yet reached again the riches we had before, he may not have still all the financial intelligence I've learned from Bo's books (such as the Steps to Control Cash, Creating Money Machines, etc), but seeing what he went through and how he surpassed it all, and seeing him happily working, to me ... my Dad, truly is, a successful man.
Cheers to my Dad's birthday and success, and may God continue to bless him with good health and strength as he keeps inspiring someone like me in the way we should believe, focus and fulfill our dreams.

Here's to everyone's dreams!