A Communication from the Past

The following was published by W. Harold Petersen in 1980.  Its message still rings true.  Enjoy.

“Inside is a message that is of importance to you. It was written by a person who understands agents and brokers, for he has been one for thirty-three years. The message touches on the aspects of an agent getting sick or hurt. The writer understands that problem explicitly. The message was written in Puerto Rico during the recent Maccabees Mutual Convention. It is shared with you in hopes it will bolster your personal and business life. It is personal. It is sincere. It is part of me, and it is tendered as a gift to you.

Ah! Puerto Rico, I am denied your pleasures.

The scene is the magnificent beach at the Cerromore Hotel. The lively, but lovely Caribbean is lapping at the beige sandy beach. Tropical vegetation and dramatic palm trees contrast with the blue sky which is punctuated with the billowy clouds that are constantly rearranged by the cooling trade winds.

Adding to nature’s pure, undiluted beauty, there stands behind me a modern hotel with all luxuries for good times, good food and drink and good sleep which is enhanced by the anesthetizing sounds of the surf.

Available is golf, tennis and diving. Available, that is, for those capable of participating. I am one of the unfortunate few who must sit in a disabled state and watch others enjoy the good fun of the good things man has invented to amuse himself. From my wheelchair, looking over a reddened and swollen foot ravaged with discomfort and pain due to a probable condition of gout comes my activity of the day, to sit, to view and to think.

My darling wife, burdened with her marriage vows of “in sickness and health” is constantly available to push the chair, to fetch my needs and to instill in me the confidence of knowing she does not deeply resent my intrusion on her time of leisure and luxury and will not wheel me into the sea in favor of a new man of sounder body.

If my condition were to be permanent what would life be like? Terribly changed is the answer and changed in ways no one would like. I would be distraught at the aspects of not being able to play golf or tennis and, yes, even the loss of the privilege of dancing. The demeaning aspects of requesting physical assistance from others and the dread of the negative emotions of self pity and persecution disquiet my thoughts.

But beyond these personal concerns, what about my business and my ability to continue to produce financially positive results in the material world?

Disability insurance may well be my best antidote for my financial and emotional problems. In these hours of contemplation, I must conclude that any person is to be superbly served by DI, but especially those engaged in the selling of insurance.

With the help of my natural powers and the help of the Almighty I will not be long confined and will not have a claim, nor miss much of my business duties and earned income.

But suppose it was Multiple Sclerosis or a spinal cord injury that put me into the wheelchair. What does my disability policy represent to me?

For many years, I would receive the full monthly benefits of my DI plan, increased by inflation indexing. Here is my fortune. Here is my making a substantial income if I can’t do it myself. It is my ego satisfied, my contribution to my family who loves me and my associates who have cast their futures with me. No one I care about will suffer financially for having known me.

And my disability insurance policy will enable me to lift the burden of care from my wife and if we desire, we can return to Puerto Rico another day, at our own expense and at a time of our own choosing. DI will liberate me financially forever.

And without my knowing it, the peaceful and positive thoughts that can only be enjoyed by a holder of disability insurance have helped me recover more quickly for the acid of worry and stress was never manufactured by my disabled body.

To rest as a hero in your own time, secure a disability insurance plan for yourself and offer the same to all who are wise enough to listen to what you have to say.”