The major value in life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become.

Having lived long enough to have acquired more than my fair share of physical items, and watched them go through the cycle of enjoyment to Goodwill or disposal, it is very clear to me that the acquisition of physical items is in and of itself just a pastime, and certainly not an endgame. 

The ones you hold onto gain sentimental value, and add a depth to your being, but not really any form of satisfaction. The properties we acquire, the vehicles and art we collect, the trinkets we treasure are all valuable in their own unique fashion.

But none compare to the acquisition of knowledge, experience, enthusiasm and life experience that are able to muster over the course of a lifetime.

Our personal value becomes intrinsic and our opportunity to find satisfaction long term in anything, I believe, resides in our own determination of ourselves. Do we feel that we are continually gaining value in tiny, immeasurable ways? Are we maturing as best as we may? Are we growing in territories that give rise to greater accomplishments, or are we wallowing in the disappointments of past attempts gone wrong, and hoping/praying for new ones to allow us a moment of victory or valor?

If nothing else, experience shapes us. It crafts us into what we are becoming and enables us to see the growth, embrace it, and work towards a direction of significance and overall importance to others.

The collection of toys will always be fun, but each and every day, I try to make a concerted effort to determine what I am becoming and look to a solution for best use of my time, that nets me an overall gain in personal growth. 

For without that, I am just a toy collector, and what challenge is there in that?

Happy Monday!

If you like what you are reading in the blog, you will even love the book more. Take a free preview below and watch the Sizzle Reel. It will give you a sense of how this book might be of help in your life when you are looking to make some tough decisions.

Specially priced at $11.11 for those who are tuned in.

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Written by Brian Weiner
When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!