December 16, 2010

Money isn't Everything

I think I have figured out why I take so long to write in between posts. I don't have anything to write about. Honestly, how many times can I write about girls and my views on relationships before it gets old? I've already met my limit. I think about writing everyday, and most of the time I do, it's just in my mind. It gets harder and harder to sit down to write about my views on the world. I could easily sit here and write about what is going on in the world of sports. I could talk about Cliff Lee going to the Phillies, Carl Crawford going to the Red Sox, the Cavs laying an egg against the Heat, how Duke is by far the best basketball team in the country, and even about how Mark Cuban wants to explore an alternative to the BCS system in college football. I could do all those things, but it wouldn't set me apart. Why read my stuff when you can read Bill Simmons' column? Truth is, I just want to give my point of view, and no, I'm not writing about sports in this post.

I've been thinking about something a lot lately. I'm not trying to figure out the meaning of life, but I'm trying to find out the most important thing in life. We can start with family. Mine is my base. My rock. I know that no matter what I do, I can absolutely count on them to be there. Regardless of how many times I argue and get into physical altercations with my brother, I know that he will do anything for me, and vice versa. There are three girls in my life that mean everything to me. My two sisters are very different from each other, and me, but we are all so close. Whenever I need something, I go directly to them. My mom is the most amazing person I know. She is a teacher, and I love her to death. She raised four kids on a teacher's salary single-handedly. I respect her in so many ways, I can't even describe them in words.

So many people are worried about getting the good grades, and getting their GPA up. Personally, I think it's ridiculous. There was a time in my life, when grades were everything. As soon as I came home from school I did my homework, and I never went outside to play until my homework was finished and 100% correct. But, when I got older I realized there was so much more to life. I kind of look at it this way: I can get straight A's every quarter. It's not that I purposefully don't, it's just that I focus on other things. For instance, I try and build 10 relationships a quarter. I think one strong relationship will go a lot further in life than an 'A' that I got in Algebra class in college. 10 relationships in 10 weeks. That's a heck of a quarter. That's a successful quarter for me.

I had a talk with my brother about money earlier in the day, and he said money is everything. Don't get me wrong, money makes life a lot better because you can do things with it that are fun. But, money is not everything. Money is 1/10 of life. My brother thinks I'm flawed and crazy because I said I think relationships are more important than money. He went on to talk about how you need money to support your family once you get into that relationship. I quickly stopped him. A relationship doesn't just involve someone who you are going to spend the rest of your life with. What about friends? Colleagues? Family? Personally I try my hardest not to burn any bridges in life because I know that at any moment I could need someone to lean on. To me, relationships are my life. Each of my friends has a different relationship with me. I cherish that about life. It's not the same thing every day. Different people have made an impact on me, on my life, that I will carry with me until the day I die.

I'm not here to say that you're idea of the most important thing in life is wrong, I'm just saying, you can't discard what relationships do for you. Sometimes you cry, laugh, and then cry because you laugh. I was asked a question the other day. Who can you count on if you can't count on your best friend? Well, I don't really know that answer. The easy answer is family, but that question is deep. The answer is going to be different for everyone. Some will say their parents, brothers, sisters, God. Everyone needs a friend. You can't have a friend, if you can't be a friend. Build those relationships with people, mend the ones that have gone south, and cherish the ones that are close to your heart.

I guess the way I look at it is, when I die, I hope I'm not judged by how much money I either made, or didn't make. I hope I'm judged by the amount of people that I have touched in my lifetime. You don't even have to do anything great in your lifetime to make an impact in somebody else's. At the end of the day, I don't want to be great, or make a lot of money, I just want to have people that I can talk to, hang out with, and love.

Love is such a strong word that people are so afraid to use it, but to be honest, there are so many people that I love. If one of them died tomorrow, I would be lost without them. I think it's very important to let them know. Don't hold back. Tell you're best friend you love them. Tell your brother you love him. I don't care when, or who you tell, just tell them.

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." - C.S. Lewis
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