The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
A good friend on Facebook posted this quote and I was very impressed. Chasing the corporate dream is not the solution. My father’s generation seems like they were able to have a better balance in their lives that even my generation (the baby boom generation). In order to stay employed in a well paying job, there seems to be more demands applied. I have a good friend with whom I talked about the stresses of a corporate job. He was asked to do more and more as his co-workers were given the opportunities to do other jobs outside of his corporation. When I talked with him a while back, he said he was often putting in 70 to 80 hour work-weeks. Unfortunately, his funeral was a few weeks ago. He is a good person whom I will dearly miss.
So, what is the bottom line. Are each of us taking care of ourselves (and our health) as well as we would like? Do I lead the balanced life I would like to live? Is the occupation I chose healthy for me? What are my hours of work? Is there a healthier way to earn a living?
Stress is a killer. It can come from lack of financial resources, lack of time with loved ones, great demands at work, sick loved ones, loved ones in trouble with the law, … or perhaps a combination of these, and more. There are many causes of stress, but for me my main concern is, time spent with family. If I am the financially richest man in the world and do not have time to spend with my family, am I truly rich?
Money is important, if only to keep a roof over our heads and pay our doctor bills. Our oldest son has had three open-heart surgeries and he goes in for a check-up every six months. However, what is the trade-off between time and money? And what is the best way to earn money?
I am finding out that the best way for me to earn money is to serve others. When we serve others, we are only serving out God. That is one reason for this website. There are related ways that I earn money, but if I am able to help one person with this site, that is a good reward for me.
To avoid the pitfalls that the Dalai Lama so beautifully mentioned, I feel that I need to have a Vision and a Mission for my life. This is not something that can be just whipped out, it is something that takes time to develop. Without a Vision people do parish (whether that be actual physical death or an attitude death, I do not know). For me, if I do not have a purpose in life, I flounder and wonder what I accomplished at the end of the day. I like helping others, so my mission must include that aspect of doing/being.
We all go through major trials in our life. Can we respond to those as opportunities to grow and mature? Our attitudes govern much of the effect such times bring upon us. So, I ask you as the reader, how do you keep a positive attitude? What is your Vision and Mission in life? How are you helping others? If you do these things, can you bring joy into your life? God wants us to have true joy in our lives, what can we do to help Him so that we can have the joy He would like to give to us?