Investing Time

by Andrew Cromwell

I am convinced there are only two things we take with us into the afterlife: who we are and the relationships we have built. No one gets to take anything else—no cars, houses, money or clothes go with you. Your job is not going with you. Nor is your favorite reality TV shows (sorry the Kardashians aren’t going with you, neither are the guys from Duck Dynasty). Oh, and your cell phone’s not going with you either.

And yet we spend much of our time on these things and treat them as if they are eternal friends that will carry us upon their shoulders into that far country. They are our constant companions, entertainers and money drainers. We invest in them each day and if someone were going to determine what was important in our lives by how we spend our time and money, they might come to the conclusion that screens and wheels were it.

No one sets out to spend more time with reality TV then with real people. And no one decides that their Harley is going to be more important than their children. It just happens little by little.

It’s not that these things are bad in of themselves, but when they become the focus of our lives, then I think it is fair to say we need to readjust our priorities.

How we spend our time is a lot like a long-term investment strategy. With investing for Retirement, a little bit each month over a lifetime equals an account that pays dividends and offers security. But if you forget to invest, or if you invest in the wrong things—say CDs or DVDs or aftermarket stereo equipment—then you are not going to end up collecting much in the way of dividends when you really need them.

How much are you investing in your relationships? Are you picking up your phone or turning on the TV or even heading out to work on the favorite hobby, when you should be talking to your spouse or your kids? Are you doing the daily work of building up the people around you? 

At the end of our life, if we put our investments in the right places, we just might discover that we are surrounded by smiling faces and, if we’re fortunate, we get to spend time in heaven with them too!