All That You Can Take With You Is That Which You Have Given Away.
All that is material is immaterial.
What an interesting paradox.
We grow up in a society that values trinkets of every kind imaginable. We work most of our lives to amass these trinkets and envision ourselves as wealthy for the assorted collection we are able to purchase.
But is that truly wealth?
John Lennon characterized it by saying “Imagine no possessions.
I wonder if you can.
No need for greed or hunger.
A brotherhood of man.”
The interesting irony in all of it for me is that the great value in life has nothing to do with possessions whatsoever.
Think for a moment of somebody that you really treasured who has passed away…
What came to mind? Was it a physical item that they left behind for you? An inheritance of some kind? Or was it something heartfelt that they said to you? A moment when you were down and they were there for you? A moment they went out of their way to make your life better? Or just a memory of their smile or how good it felt when they hugged you?
Immortality is achieved by leaving impressions on people. There are obviously a lot of ways to achieve immortality, but none of them more important than the way a person was able to make other people feel.
The pharoahs went to extremes to build the largest edifice possible and stuffed it full of trinkets. Do you believe that any of that mattered after they passed away? Did they continue in an afterlife populated full of their toys?
No one knows. I find it hard to believe that any of that could possibly matter. But I know from personal experience that each person that I have lost over the course of my lifetime is carried in my heart with warm memories of how I felt in their presence.
During this incredibly tumultuous period in our history, perhaps it would be wise to spend more time giving away, than acquiring.
Just a thought for a Thursday. I hope yours is special❤️
Leave a Comment