Money vs. Love

Last weekend we had our yearly Haroldsen/Baird reunion at our home and, oh, what a feast we had! We stand and sit around telling family stories and retelling the classic and most choice stories of past get-togethers and trips. Yes, there was some great food too but when it came down to it, it really was more a feast of love and interaction. That reminded me of a very important idea that I’d like to remind all of you about too.

For years I’ve preached over and over about the basic and best formulas for going out in the world to get and keep lots of money and I think that’s very important. Succeeding in financial matters really can improve and lift your life and those loved ones around you.  But, never let that ‘money getting’ get in the way of love.

Recently I listened to an author who had just written a book about that huge mine disaster that trapped 33 miners for 69 days, back in 2010 in Chile. When those survivors finally escaped that pit of hell, what they said was very instructive for those who would listen and learn from their experience.  Did any of them think about their houses or their money while they hoped and waited to be rescued?  No, they did not.  Their minds and hearts were fixated on their loved ones … their wives, kids, parents and other people they loved. When our lives are on the line, most everyone realizes what the most important part of their existence is and money is quickly and easily pushed out of our heads by thoughts of those that we love and those that love us. But we don’t need to wait until something terrible happens to remember what really matters.

Back when I was giving seminars, I used to ask the audience, by a show of hands, how many people would like to make and have a net worth of one million dollars. Just about every hand in the audience went up.  I would follow the same line of question with higher numbers: Who would like 10 million and then 100 million dollars? About the same number of hands went shooting into the air.  Then I would ask the question with a bigger number but with a much bigger difference: How many people here would like to make and have a billion dollar net worth, but when you got to the top of that huge financial mountain you arrived there only to find out you didn’t have any friends or relatives that liked you, and certainly didn’t love you, and none of them wanted to be near where you were—you would be totally cut off? There was always a few hands that were raised, very few, but all of those that had their hands in the air were, well, teenagers.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t set your goals high and go after your fortune and keep on building it bigger and bigger. I mean only that you should think about all the good you can do in the world with that fortune. Always, always, always remember that giving and receiving love is infinitely more important and lifts your soul and your happiness in life to a much higher level than any amount of money ever would. Then live your life giving focus to the things that really matter as well as your big financial goals.