Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Lateness of the Hour

A note from peter@thewealthyattitude.com for Monday June 23 2008

Welcome to another brand spanking shiny new week.

I’m not a typical T.V. watcher, nor all that keen on to many news type shows. However, I’m struck occasionally by some of the “personalities” that show up every now and then to tell me that they are driven by principles rather than ego.

Last week one of my favorite folks on network television suddenly passed away at the tender age of 58. I thoroughly enjoyed Tim Russert’s Sunday show “Meet The Press” as he would not toe the “official” line while challenging the political wonks that braved
his superior, and yet delightfully homely, intellect. I’ll certainly miss his perspectives.

Our friend Philip also was struck by Tim’s passing, and in his true form, could address it much more fittingly than me.

The Lateness of the Hour
By Philip Humbert

Have you noticed that the more tools we have to "help" us, the more it seems we "must" do? I find it curious and rather troubling that so many talented people say they are "stressed" or "swamped" or "over-whelmed" and just can't get their most important projects or priorities done.

How can this be?

Pretty much everyone I know is busy all the time. Our phones ring, we race from one meeting to the next appointment, then home at the end of the day. We work so hard! And yet those things we truly desire get pushed aside for "later." How can we be so busy and yet see so little progress toward our dreams?

And then last week, Tim Russert died. He died at his desk, recording voice-overs for last week's broadcast of Meet the Press. Mr. Russert and I were about the same age. I had the privilege of meeting him briefly while we waited for a flight a few years ago
and he struck me exactly the way he seemed on television--friendly, relaxed and focused. He wrote a wonderful book about his father, and based on his memorial service this week, he was loved and respected by the most famous and powerful people in our country. He's gone too soon.

My sense is that too many of us have dreams we are "putting off for someday" or working on far too slowly. We get caught up in the "thick of thin things" and our priorities are sacrificed on the altar of daily "have-to's." One of life's great tragedies is to die with your "music still inside you." Don't let that happen to you!

A friend of mine is an accountant and partner in a local CPA firm. He makes a good living, has maybe a dozen employees, and I gather he likes his work. But every time we talk, he tells me about the travel he and his wife want to do. He's never been outside the U.S. and he dreams of visiting Europe, the Great Wall of China, and
Australia. He talks about this constantly, but always in the future tense. He has "no time" and "can't afford it this year." What a shame!

Yet a member of his staff, a dynamo name Rhonda, takes a month off after tax season each year. She's helped build schools in Honduras and taken medical supplies to Cuba six times. She's learned Spanish, and her teenage children have dug wells, taught English and set up internet cafes in Central America because she has the time. My buddy has "no time" and "no money" but his employee does! I find that ironic and terribly thought-provoking.

What are your dreams and priorities? What would you do if you "had the time" and knew you couldn't fail? What wonderful projects are you working on slowly or hoping to build "some day?" Start now! Allocate time, energy, a few dollars or whatever it takes, and make it happen!

Yes, mowing the lawn or cleaning house or volunteering may be important, too, but not if they get in the way of your most important values! Whether your dream is running for office, writing a novel or spending more time with loved ones, make it happen. Tim Russert was only 58 and he accomplished a lot. I don't know if he
accomplished his most important dreams or not, but his time is up. The hour is late, perhaps later than we know.

Do not let your time and life "slip by."

Make this day a celebration of your very presence.
Take care,
~peter~
www.thewealthyattitude.com

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