Making Money or Making Memories: Which brings you more true happiness?

Let’s begin with the assumption that you have a roof over your head and food to eat, although that doesn’t need to be the case. There are many happy people in this world that have neither, yet still have a joyful life with many wonderful memories. At the same time, there are people in this world that have more money than they could spend in multiple lifetimes, yet they aren’t happy. What the heck … how can this be? Could it be that the poor person has takes more time to create memories, while the rich person is too busy?

Really, it doesn’t matter. What matters is what brings you true happiness.

Making Money and Making Memories both take Time.

Time is the one thing in life that is distributed evenly. No one gets an extra hour more or a minute less. The only thing that will end this equality is once we pass from this life. That is a guarantee, we just don’t know when our clock may stop. The question is how are you going to use this time? Are going to focus on just building your net worth, day in and day out or are you going to fill your days with wonderful memories that could never be bought, borrowed or stolen?

What does true happiness look like to you?

Grab a piece of paper and a pen and start writing down all the things that make you happy. Spend some time really thinking about this.

• Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing?
• When was the last time that you were so happy that time just stood still? Hours flew by in a blink of an eye, yet, when you think back to that time, you can recall every detail.
• Are you taking time to visit family and friends … or are you too busy at work for that? Don’t hold off as you may not get the chance to later.
• Do you get to attend all the events that you’d like to be at … like your kids concert, sporting events or dance competitions? How about family birthdays? Your wedding anniversary? Vacations? Hiking and exploring? Do these things while you can. The kids will grow up before you know it, and your health is not guaranteed to get better with age … especially if you are stressed out working all the time!
  When you’re finished, review your notes. Sit with it for a while.

So … are you using your time to create memories or are you too busy making money, hoping to make your memories at some point in the future? Remember, none of us are guaranteed one so make the most of the time you have.

The present.