A little over ten years ago, my wife and I found ourselves in dire financial straits. Things were so bad that the word bankruptcy was briefly tossed around. We were swimming in past due bills despite me having a great paying job. 

We’d been through a lot in our short marriage, and I credit her with keeping a cool head about everything. She knew the situation in its entirety and yet she was as cool as a summer shower on a blistering Texas day. 
 

Years prior my brother and I started a small retail musical instrument store in a small Oklahoma town. Everyone said it would fail, and it did, but not for the reasons you might think. My brother was the talent. He could make a guitar walk and talk. For that matter, put any stringed instrument in his hands and show him how to hold it, and he’d be playing it like it was an old friend the next day. He also had a knack for teaching students. 

The store thrived, growing from a handful of instruments to over 120 without taking out loans. It seemed like everything we touched turned to gold, and the store became a nationally awarded business.