Taking time for what matters

It’s easy. Easy to get caught up in work, in things, in stuff. Things that matter, but not as much as we often think they do.

Running my own business and having an office at home makes it too easy to never leave work. I often say that the great thing about working from home is that you never have to go to work, the bad thing is that you never leave.

I enjoy my work and that can make it difficult to put down and focus on what matters. I look around and I see people loosing their jobs in massive numbers, I see the headlines that unemployment is at 10% or more…  so I work, I work hard so that I may not end up in that statistic. Working hard is good, but I have to constantly remind myself of what is really most important in my life.

Last week I spent 72 hours by my grandfather’s side as he took his last breaths. I held my grandmother’s hand, prayed with him, sang to him, and sat silently with him. In those moments, the square footage of my house, model of my car, quality of my watch, speed of my computer, or size of my television lost all value. What mattered was time.

The things I remember most about my grandfather are not the things he bought me or money he spent on me. They are not the car he drove or how fancy his house was (or wasn’t). What mattered was the late night trips for pizza and the early morning trips for doughnuts. What mattered was watching a baseball game together, spending time together, and enjoying family. I may not have had the exact same views as a twelve year old, but in retrospect, those were the things that really stay in my mind the most.

My work is important to me. I love what I do, want to be great at it, enjoy helping businesses with their design and web site needs, and enjoy making money while doing it. But what really matters to me is my wife, our three boys, our friends, our families, and the almightily God.

I say that, but don’t always live it. It is easy to forget what really matters, but I hope that in the end, as I take my last breaths, I am surrounded by a family that is thankful for my time more than anything else.

Be reminded to work hard, but don’t make the mistake of working just for money’s sake. Work for something that matters, I will try to do the same.