1. There are motivation-
al writers and motiva-
tional speakers,and then
there’s John Maxwell.
John has been called
America’s number one
leadership authority by
the American Manage-
ment Association,and
he won the Mother
Teresa Prize for Global
Peace and Leadership
from the Luminary
Leadership Network.
He has trained more
than six million leaders
in 196 countries.
John Maxwell literally
wrote the book – or
more accurately,13
books – on leadership.
He’s written dozens of
other books on relation-
ships,attitude and
preparing for success,
but his latest book,“In-
tentional Living,”is an
absolute must read no
matter what occupation
you are in.
I’ve known John for
many years, and he
never fails to amaze me
with his energy and
passion for living. Now,
he has generously docu-
mented his formula for
the benefit of all.
Drawing on the
assumption everyone
wants his or her life to
matter,John explains
how age,wealth and
fame are not necessary
ingredients for making a
positive impact on the
world. Rather,he says,
the key to living a life
that matters is being
“intentional.”
John says, “If you
possess the desire to
make a difference,
place a high value on
people and are willing
to team up with others,
significance is within
your reach.”
John’s inspiration
came from a gift his
assistant gave him 40
years ago. It was a book
entitled“The Greatest
Story Ever Told.”
When he opened it,
he was surprised to find
all the pages were blank.
Between the pages
she had included a note
that read: “John, your
life is before you. Fill
these pages with kind
acts, good thoughts and
matters of your heart.
“Write a great story
with your life.”
So that’s exactly what
he did. John was deter-
mined to make every day
matter,even when so
many people do nothing.
He’s convinced that
they are overwhelmed
when they look at the
evils and injustice in the
world,and they give up.
He says,“We should
never let what we cannot
do keep us from doing
what we can do. A pas-
sive life does not become
a meaningful life.”
In other words,he
challenges us to start
small but dream big.
Johnisamasterlist-
maker.Hisadviceiseasy
tofollow,becausehelays
outtheimportantele-
mentsofanintentional
lifeincludingtheseven
benefitsofintentional
living,factorsthatcon-
nectpeopleofsignifi-
cance,thefiveessential
valuesofaddingvalueto
othersandthe12quali-
tiesoflike-valuedpeople
whoseeksignificance.
SEE LIVING, PAGE 10
In 1994 I hit an
important milestone –
getting my first job
working at the Valley
Supper Club in North
Redwood bussing
tables. Upon receiving
my W-2 I filed income
taxes for the first time,
and I truly felt like I
was all grown up and
approaching adulthood
It was so exciting!
Fast forward to 2016
when I received a tele-
phone call one lovely
afternoon in April from
an Internal Revenue
Service employee utter-
ing the dreaded words
“You are being audited.”
Anxiety immediately
washed over me like
downpour of rain.
In our world of end-
less scams, both obvi-
ous and well disguised I
decided to quiz the
gentleman who was
calling me. I asked him
all the obvious ques-
tions to which he had a
reasonable answer to
all of my questions.
Eventually I became
defensive and angry
with him, to which he
said he would mail me a
notice to read with my
own eyes to prove his
authenticity – ironical-
ly that letter arrived
three days later.
I hadn't received the
first notice, since I was
no longer was living in
the state where I filed
said tax return.
When I asked the
agent why the IRS sim-
ply didn’t track me
down through their
system he stated “it
doesn’t work that way,
we use the information
listed only on the tax
form being reviewed.”
Good to know as I
always assumed the
IRS could find anyone
with a press of a button
and have one squirm-
ing immediately.
The nice form letter
stated, “Your 2014
return was selected at
random for a compli-
ance research examina-
tion.” I have been to Las
Vegas 17 times, and I
have scratched endless
lottery tickets and
never won a jackpot.
Yet this year I some-
how found myself to be
one of the only 1.1 per-
cent of the total 141
million income tax
returns to audited…I’d
rather win the lottery.
I kept clinging to the
hope that this was
somehow a scam, I
mean after all I was due
to be swayed by my
first deceitful scam
eventually in my life.
I called the IRS on
Tax Day (what was I
thinking) where the
wait time was one hour
to speak to an agent to
verify my audit. The
agent informed me that
everything was legit
and to cooperate with
the auditor, so much
for “Having a nice day.”
For the past month I
have spent numerous
hours requesting bank
statements and gather-
ing paperwork and
receipts for my upcom-
ing audit. Currently
I’m waiting to hear
from the auditor to
inform me of our tele-
phone audit meeting,
doesn’t that just sound
ticklishly fun?
I do remain opti-
mistic though, I’m
hoping for either a
refund or a light jail
sentence. I’m not
objecting to paying my
taxes. I’m simply voic-
ing my distaste of the
emotional and physical
audit experience.
If you never see
another column from
me please feel free to
donate to my audit fund
by contacting the
Redwood Gazette office.
Thank you.
EXCHANGE
4 | Monday, May 23, 2016 | Redwood Gazette | redwoodfallsgazette.com
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