![]() If you want to know the TRUE value of something, don't look at how much money you've spent on it. Look at how much of your life you've sacrificed to get it. Then after you've spent your life getting it, ask yourself if you were charged fairly!
I'm thinking about a Bible passage that addresses this very thing. The apostle James wrote to a church and spoke about individuals who dream of starting up businesses. "Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:13-14) I think about Israel's ancient king Solomon when he says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring." (Proverbs 27:1) What's the point here? Is it that having dreams is wrong? Is it that pursuing certain things in life is pointless? No. It's that we should remember how fragile our life is. You could truly be here today and gone tomorrow. Your time on this planet is limited and nothing is guaranteed for tomorrow. Jonathan Larson, creator of the Broadway hit musical Rent died before the show's first premiere. He had never seen the success of his creation. Even though his show became a HUGE success, he never lived to see any of that success, or to receive any profit from the Broadway play, or to receive any awards that this show won. I remember back in college, we've experienced a few student deaths. One death occurred in the food court of the college where a student passed out while working by a grill. He died. Another death occurred when two students were driving and one of them lost control of the steering wheel. They cashed and lost their lives. Another death occurred when a van of students went over an overpass bridge. All those students died. These students never completed their college education and never had the chance to pursue their dreams. Their lives were cut short while they were pursuing their dreams! Life is absolutely fragile. You can't take it for granted. It is truly a vapor: here today, gone tomorrow. So, what do you want to pursue in life? How much would it cost you to get it? That is, how much of your life are you willing to sacrifice to get it? Yes, many of us want to be rich. How soon do you want those riches? You want them right away? Well, you're going to have to sacrifice your life for a few years to get those riches -- and yet, you may never live to see them! Yes, many of us want successful careers. Those kinds of careers don't happen right away -- but if you want to get those careers quickly, you need to sacrifice a few years of your life. But, you may never get the chance to be that successful doctor, or lawyer, or president.
Since life is so fragile, you need to focus on pursuing the right things in life, which I believe are the following:
Money comes and goes. Businesses come and go. Careers come and go. But you only have one life. Take full advantage of it. If you're working on a business, don't spend too much time on it. If you're working to lose weight, don't stress over it. Take it slowly. If you're working on a blog like I am, don't try to post 10 blogs a day. Trying to do business on social media? Don't hover over your computer. Step outside and enjoy the day. Success will come when it comes. If it comes tomorrow, great! If it comes in 20 years, great! But don't sacrifice your life to get success. You may never get success. But you do have a life TODAY. So live TODAY while it is called TODAY.
1 Comment
Dawn Smith
7/25/2013 10:43:12 pm
This was definetly something I needed to read today. it is too easy to be caught up on trying to get ahead for tomorrow and today passes by without any enjoyment or living in the day. It is so true today may be the last time you get to tell a loved one you love them or you get to enjoy the sunshine.
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DisclaimerAll information in this blog are for inspirational purposes only. Unless otherwise stated, all content is written and copyrighted by Aiyo A. Jones. Archives
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