Iowa Specialty Hospital

Notes from Steve

March 30, 2017

I once told Dr. Kakade that any losses I take in my business (when I had the coffee shop) were fine because that’s a tax deduction.  He said you have to lose money first, and then basically you can only take 25-35% off your taxes.  He said “YOU HAVE TO LOSE MONEY FIRST”. What? Then it hit me … I’m losing a good amount of money to gain a small tax deduction. That really makes no sense.  It’s like training for a marathon so I can eat prime rib and a cheesecake every night.  It will kill me in the end. You can only climb up a down escalator for so long …

This may be my new awareness and life lesson.  I was telling Dr. Hurt this the other day, and he said “When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging”.  Yep. “Why are you saying this Steve, are you eating too much prime rib?  What’s behind all of this??”
Yesterday I found out that I owe a ton in taxes this year because I don’t have the deductions from business losses.  And the message I keep repeating in my mind is “Your deduction in the past was from a loss … you don’t have any losses this year, it’s good Steve, it’s good …”  So, paying in to the government is not the worst thing in the world, I’ve rationalized it to the good. (The losses in the end weighed out a lot more than the gain in a tax refund.)

“When you find yourself in a hole, quit digging”.  Most of you know I love politics.*  I was listening to the radio last night on the way back from Chicago and one of the commentators said that all of the recent presidential, congressional, and press bickering back and forth could have been alleviated by a simple statement “Yep, we were wrong, let’s make it better together”.  But instead, according to the commentator, the current administration dug in to defend their position.  When we try and rationalize our position, in light of the truth, we are going up the down elevator.  How often do we rationalize and justify our behavior when in our hearts, we clearly understand that the simple, transparent way (a lot of times with a dose of humility) is the road to redemption?  

Try hard to see the truth – it’s there right in front of you.

*I was thinking “love” is a strong word, but I’m sticking with it.  

« Back

© 2024 Iowa Specialty Hospital. All rights reserved.