When I graduated from college, (long ago and far away), I received a gift of a book titled “Life is Tremendous” by Charlie Jones. It has a number of interesting points.
One of the interesting points which I found to be true almost forty-years later are that there are three (3) big questions that we have to answer in our life which determine how our life will go.
- Who do we spend our life with? This is often, who do we marry?
Do we marry someone who is a “good fit” for us and that we will love, honor and cherish and with whom we have mutual respect and kindness for each other? Also, we would have a similar vision of what we would like life to look like so that we are moving in the same direction.
The first law of the Buddhist and the first chapter of the bestselling book by Scott Peck, “The Road Less Traveled”, is that “Life is Hard”. You will want to have someone who has “your back” and that you both are pulling in the same direction toward common goals with a common desire of what you want life to look like.
2. How will you spend your days working? Will you honor, cherish and obey in your work?
The author says that he has never known someone who has been fired in one job with a poor attitude to be successful in other jobs or another career. He is saying that if you don’t put in a decent effort for your employer you are not going to be successful wherever you go. If you don’t value your work and put in a conscientious strong effort on the job, you won’t be successful in any work.
3. Who are you living your life for? This is more of a spiritual question.
The author talks about are you living your life totally for yourself, or are you living your life for a higher purpose, or in service? His view is that if you are living your life totally for yourself, the bottom line will be that you will not be happy. In essence he is referring to “in giving you receive”. We probably remember what gifts we have given other people for Christmas, but may not remember what we received. This is because the joy is in the giving, not in the receiving or taking.
This is a book I gave each of my sons for Christmas last year. It’s a thin book and easy to read through quickly. However, I thought the three (3) questions were very helpful. A short version of those questions are: (1) Who will you marry? (2) What effort will you make in your career? and (3) What is your higher purpose? These decisions have had a big impact on how my life has moved and it might be helpful to others.
As adults we get very busy in our lives – with each passing year we seem to have more and more responsibilities often leaving us with little time to ponder these important questions. It is usually when we begin to think about retirement and possibly creating an estate plan that we begin to think over these things as we begin to think about our past and the path we took in life or the decisions we made.
It also might helpful to discuss these questions with the young people in your life that you may love or mentor.
At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.