Overcoming Pride to File Bankruptcy

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March 25, 2021 / Jeffrey Kelly

“I should have done this years ago but my pride would not let me” said a client recently.  Eventually, after the debt grew so large that creditors started filing garnishment actions, she finally pulled the trigger.  After she signed the court papers with me, she said, “I feel like such burden has been taken off my shoulders.”   

Why do so many people wait longer than they should to file bankruptcy?   

I believe that the answer to this question is one word……..pride.  I get it.  I suffer from it as well.   

How many divorces do you think are caused by pride?  I bet it is a lot.  Why can’t people just say they are sorry?  Pride.  Why can’t people forgive and forget?  Pride.  Where does it lead sometime?  Not a good place. 

My recent experience with pride 

I recently experienced a bad pride episode.  I wanted to take my teenage daughter to kayak the Etowah River from Neel’s Landing in Bartow County to the YMCA ramp in Floyd County.  It did not look that far to me on the map.   

I assumed my adventurous teenage daughter would love kayaking. I was wrong. As soon as we put in the river, she says, “I hate this.  Let’s paddle back to the start and bail out.” I should have listened to her. Why didn’t I?  Pride.  I did not want be a quitter. Big mistake.

“How much farther?” she asked me after about an hour. “My guess is another hour.” I responded.  I was way off.  After a few hours of paddling, we asked a nice gentleman sitting on the side of the river how much further to Rome.

“Six more hours he replied.”

We should have immediately gotten out of the river right then and there.  I should have asked for mercy for him to allow us pull out of the river so that my wife could come rescue us.

Instead, because of my pride, we paddled on for a few more hours until we met a nice young man name Joel from the Riverbend area who graciously fished us out of the river and saved us from misery. I will be forever grateful.

How far will you go to protect you pride?  How far are you willing to paddle to protect your pride?  How much suffering are you willing to make your family endure because of your pride?   

Some people will go to great lengths to protect their pride.  I see so many people every year who will drain their 401k making payments on debts that we would have wiped out in bankruptcy anyways. 401ks are a protected asset that creditors cannot touch. However, creditors can appeal to your pride to pull money out of a protected asset category to pay them.  Pride is your creditor’s best friend.

Can you put a dollar amount on the cost of pride? 

What is the price of pride?  Sometimes, it is a lot more than your 401k.  Sometimes, pride will cost your marriage or other important relationship.  Pride can cost you lots of lost time.  Unfortunately, pride can also cost you your health.  Anxiety is leads to bad unhealthy places.

Conclusion 

Don’t let pride blind you to the reality of math. Pride can blind us to the fact that we all need grace at some point.  I encourage you to take advantage of a free consultation so that we can come up with a plan that will work for you and lead you to a better place. Call us today 770-881-8449.