Some Things Are Priceless

You’ve seen the ad, “some things are priceless, for everything else, there’s Mastercard.”  How true.  In fact, the most important things are priceless.  Time probably being the most valued for many Americans.

Parents should know that the most cherished gift for our children is the gift of our time.  The same holds true for the elderly.  My Grandmother who died at 102, had reached the point where the only thing she wanted was to spend time with her loved ones.  I heard someone say that children, perhaps because they are recent arrivals from heaven, instinctively know that time is more precious than money or stuff.  Likewise, for the elderly since they will be returning to heaven soon.

I remember when my daughter was very young. Her dad had been working consistently without any time off. We had seen very little of him for months. He took a day off. We packed a picnic, loaded her in the car, and a baby at the time, and headed to the park. We threw in her bicycle and all the balls, bats and gloves that we could find. Nothing fancy, just simple pitching and hitting the ball, kicking a football, frisbee throwing, playing on swings and slides and eating PB and J sandwiches under the canopy.

That night, my daughter took her bath and with teary eyes climbed in Dad’s lap and said, “Daddy, this was the best day of my whole life.” His eyes were not dry either. From that time on, he realized that the most important thing was spending time with family. He never worked like that ever again. He made a schedule that his company could live with and made time for the important things.

If there is anything good from the Coronavirus Shut Down, it’s that many families have spent a lot of time together. I know that some of those families are under tremendous stress. I saw a recent poll indicating that 1/3 of all Americans are suffering from anxiety or depression. These difficult times have taken a tremendous toll on our citizens.

It is heartbreaking as I hear from so many who are suffering and looking for help. I have told you how broken our unemployment system is. It is still broken and apparently, this administration is never going to be able to fix it. People are still not able to get the unemployment compensation they deserve. My staff and I are still spending most of our day trying to help these hurting families. I stand by my previous statement. There is NO excuse for this incompetency. We are closing in on 3 months since this Shut Down began and this administration can still not handle the problem they created. Rightly or wrongly, this should have been remedied by now.

I know my words of time with family are not very consoling if you are one of those who are out of work without income. Or if you are one of those business owners who put everything on the line to start your business and are now watching it drying up and wondering how long you can hold on. 

I am so sorry for those of you in those situations. I pray it ends soon and you can get back to your work and to your life. In the meantime though, I hope you are spending time with those you love while you can. In the end, that’s what really matters.

Most of us know the feeling of not having enough hours in the day to get it all done.  Still we work longer and harder to satisfy our desires, usually sacrificing those things that are priceless.  Remember happiness is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the enjoyment of what you have.

Stay safe and know that this too shall pass.