We had some friends come into town and we went to ‘Cave of the Winds‘ to take a tour of the caves as part of our time with them. If you’ve never been through a cave before note that this is a nice introduction to the cave because they have managed to make it rather easy for ‘normal’ human beings to go into the caves. I don’t count normal as meaning much because at times we had to duck and at others we had to turn sideways to get through various places in the cave’s structure. Other parts of the cave have been modified to allow for people to walk through where before you would have to crawl.

One thing that is interesting about caves is that without light the inside of the cave is absolutely and completely pitch black. You cannot see anything. If you have not sat down and evaluated your finances, then you know what this feels like. You don’t know where you are, where you’ve been or where you are going. You’re in the dark - not just a little bit, but you can’t see your hand in front of your face. Anything you do see is a hallucination of your brain in an attempt to get some visual stimulation. You’re pretending you have money when you may not actually have money. Scary.

Then, on the other hand you could have a helmet on your head with a light bulb on it thus giving you some insite into your finances. You’re not in the total dark, but you’re not aware of everything, you’re still exploring. You could still get lost, but you’d at least have vision of where you are at present. That’s kind of like knowing you’re in thirty thousand dollars of debt but ignoring it. You’re aware of the problem but you’re going to pretend that knowing about it is going to make it a non-issue.

Alternatively you could have a map. A map and a lantern or helmet with a bulb. And a guide. You could be really set in this situation. You need to have a plan of where you’re going. You’re not in the dark, and if you’ve got questions you could ask the guide, “Dude, where’s the exit? I’m tired of this tiny space and narrow passages.”  And the guide could help you plan for retirement or that emergency.  Of course the guide needs to be a trusted adviser and financial counselor, but you get the idea.

Caves don’t have to be scary, but you also don’t need to be in the dark either.

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