Recently a close friend of mine challenged me to look at my life realistically and accept that I wasn't "cutting it" from a monetary standpoint. It was painful to hear, but it made me take stock of my life and look at how I value success. It also made me think of my father's humble beginnings and what he'd achieved in his life, monetarily and otherwise. I've often wondered how he would view my life today. Would he think that I'd been wasting my time or underachieving? He was never one to lecture me; he just led by quiet example and displayed a tender, sensitive heart. It's now been 40 years since his life
ended at the age of 60. In three days he would have reached the age of 101. I still miss him terribly and could think of 101 reasons why he was the only man I ever met who wasn't
afraid to show his heart or shed his tears. No one cared more deeply about the every day worker than my dad. And no one worked harder than he did, from his simple farm beginnings to long hours in a conservation tower checking for fires, to his years of saving with my mother to acquire two small businesses in a town of 1,013. He was a success in every sense of the word, and he and my mother had a deep, loving relationship. They truly worshipped one another, and I know how blessed I was. But would he think that I'd been a success thus far, despite my struggles to achieve financial independence and create a better life for myself? Financial advisors and portfolios are not a part of my vocabulary. I live close to the edge financially and I doubt that that's going to change anytime in the near future. I haven't thrown money away, but I also haven't planted the corporate seeds which might have secured a better future.
So what would my dad have said to me at this point in my life? He would want me to be happy, of course, however I might define that, and not struggling financially, but more than anything, I believe that he would be thrilled if he knew that in some way I made a difference in people's lives. He certainly did that, and at the end of my life, that is ALL that matters!
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