Life Isn’t About Money. Yes I Said It.

This week has gotten me thinking about life and how I’m living it.  Now I know you are probably thinking, oh great, another “fluff” post. That may be so, but I’ve had one of the hardest weeks of my life and since this is my blog I’m going to write whats on my mind.

Last week my uncle had heart problems and passed away at the age of 55.  My grandpa was having a real hard time with it and was extremely stressed out.  He was rushed to the hospital Saturday morning, where he was unconscious.  Apparently he went without oxygen for around 23 minutes, which is definitely not a good thing.  I had the chance to be with him at the hospital Saturday and Sunday with my family where we watched him take his last breath on Sunday night.  Two losses to a family in 1 week is a tough thing to go through for a family.

There have been a lot of thoughts running through my head this week, most of which are centered around life (both life and death).  My grandpa was never a rich guy.  In fact he grew up often living in tents and only made it through the 8th grade.    However what he did have was a huge family around him who loved him.  That was apparent Sunday night by the amount of people that were with him when he passed.    You see it didn’t matter how much money my grandpa had in his bank account when he died, he couldn’t take it with him anyways.  Instead of spending time earning more and more, he spent his time with people, which is what really counts.

I see so many people in business get so caught up in earning money that they neglect their family and friends.  However when you put yourself before your friends, pretty soon you are your only friend and that makes for a crappy life.  When you die do you want people saying “man, he made a lot of money but was a real jack ass, I wish I knew him” or do you want people to remember how great of person you were to them?

Now I’m not saying making money is a bad thing, just wanting you to ask yourself is the life you are living the person you want to be?  One of the hardest things I’ve been dealing with is that my grandpa only lived a few miles away, but I rarely spent time with him.  I was too caught up in my own life that I neglected my relationship with him and that is something I’ll never get back.

So I guess the purpose of this post is just to get you to ask yourself are you the person you want to be?  We only have 1 life and if we are living it just to please ourselves, I believe we are missing the point.  One of my favorite songs is “This Is Your Life” by the band Switchfoot.  Take a listen to the words and ask yourself are you the person you want to be?  How will you be remembered?

Going to miss you grandpa.