What's important in life...

“What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.” (Henry Van Dyke) from the Jack’s Winning Words Blog. Jack also had this follow-on - “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer.”

As I get older I have started to realize that possessions and the immense amount of time and effort that I have put in on amassing them don’t really matter all that much. I am more richly rewarded by the love of my devoted spouse or having my grandchildren be happy to see me than by being able to point to some “thing” that I’ve been able to buy. Whenever someone blurts out something like “I hate that (put in whatever possession you can think of here)”, I often retort, “Hate is such a strong emotion to waste on an inanimate object.” Love is, too. Love and hate need to be directed towards other people or maybe a favorite pet, not things that you have collected over time.

I suppose this whole topic is really about maintaining balance in your life and being more aware of what’s really important when one makes decisions about how to allocate one’s time. Time spent working is important and necessary, but only if the purpose is to allow for quality time doing things with those we love. If all we do is work and never make the time to enjoy life with friends and family, then what kind of life do we really have?
So, later this week my wife and I are off on a much-needed vacation. I’m trying to get everything wrapped up or at least in a state where it can wait for my return; however, the nature of the real estate business is such that I know there will be a crisis or two while I’m traveling. I just hope that I can get away from it enough that I can focus upon the purpose of the vacation in the first place – to relax a bit and recharge and to just enjoy life with my wonderful wife. I’ll let everyone know how that went when I get back.