Good morning & happy Monday!
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
– Mark Twain
I had an interesting experience recently that got me thinking.
We had a community yard sale in my neighborhood a few Saturdays ago and many of my neighbors participated in cleaning out their garages and selling items they wanted to get rid of.
My 10-year-old son loves to go to yard sales and he walked throughout the neighborhood to see what he might be interested in purchasing. He purchased a few small items with his allowance money, and I thought that was the end of it (I personally don’t enjoy garage sales that much).
But the following evening my son is carrying 4 big trophies into the house.
“What’s that, bud?” I ask.
“The neighbor gave them to me,” he responds. “She tried to sell them at the yard sale, but nobody wanted to buy them and she said she didn’t want them, so she gave them to me.”
Me: “What are you going to do with them?”
My son: “I don’t know, but I didn’t want to be rude and say no to her gift.”
So here he is with 4 huge trophies, probably 2 or 3 feet tall with car toppers on them, I guess they were from car shows that her deceased husband had won years earlier.
Now, for him I would have to imagine these would represent significant accomplishments, and I’m sure he displayed those trophies with pride. But a number of years after his death there is a widower who is trying to do some spring cleaning these are items that needed to go.
Here’s the thing … nobody wanted them. She couldn’t sell them and frankly I’m not really happy with them taking up room in my home.
Here are these trophies that represent major accomplishments in this man’s life … and they are completely worthless to everyone else.
I’m gonna’ level with you … that really stinks! I’m wrestling with this a bit.
How much time do we spend in our lives to get a trophy that will end up in a landfill one day?
Are we spending our lives chasing after things that really have no long-term meaningful value?
This got me thinking about what really matters in life. What is really worth investing in?
Author Stephen Covey said, “It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in the activity trap, in the busy-ness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall. If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.”
Might I respectfully challenge all of us to ensure that the ladder we are climbing is leaning against the right wall.
It is so unbelievably easy to lose sight of what is important. I know I must constantly check myself and build in systems to ensure I don’t drop the ball in my own life.
When I get home from work I would rather kick off my shoes and relax, but oftentimes my boys ask me to play baseball or basketball with them. Spending the time with my kiddos is more important so I make that time investment with them (I’m anything but perfect on this).
It takes intentionality to make sure my wife and I get a weekly date night, but we have prioritized that on our schedule to ensure it happens (again, not perfect, but reasonably consistent).
I have made a commitment to read my Bible, pray, and journal every day. For the past few years this has become so critical that I can’t even tell you the impact it has had on my life.
I jog 4 days a week … not because I enjoy jogging, but because I want to be healthy.
Without intentionality on these matters, I could pretty much guarantee I would be worse off. I would be less healthy and my relationship with God, my wife, and my kids would not be as strong. Here’s the thing … life, including my own complacency, constantly try to get in the way of these. It not only takes intentionality, but it also takes commitment and discipline.
I don’t know about you, but it oftentimes feels like the world is completely out of control. I am a big fan of “controlling the controllables.”
I can’t control what the stock market does, but I can control how I manage my money.
I can’t control what the presidential candidates do today (good grief, who knows what either of them will say!), but I can control how emotionally charged I respond.
I can’t control the weather, the neighbors, or the price of food, but I can control what building my ladder is leaning against.
My friends, please spend some time to evaluate what building your ladder is leaning against. I promise it’s an exercise that will be worthwhile.
It is such an incredible privilege and honor for me to invest in your lives. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your journey.
Please note: For the month of June Intentional Wealth will be working normal Monday-Thursday hours, but we will be working remotely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The office will be staffed Mondays and Thursdays; the phone and email will always be on. We expect this will cause no business disruption, but just wanted to make sure you are aware of this update for the month of June only. If you need us, we are available.