I think I have lost count of the number of times I have said this to my friends, colleagues, students and clients here in China over the past 12 or more years. It’s strange but we are all driven to want more, have more and do more throughout our lives and no more so that emerging countries like China, India, and so on. I guess it’s understandable to want a better life, to have a good job that pays well, to own a house, have a car and enjoy all the trappings that these things bring into your life, but one day you realise that these are just ‘Things’, and they cannot do anything for us in our times of need! They cannot make you well again if you fall terminally ill, they cannot take away the pain of loosing someone close to you or stop the hurting inside if you are in a deep depression. Money does however give you options, I.e to do something or not but it has been my experience that chasing the dream of endless supplies of money and possessions does not bring you happiness, infact it quite often brings deep sadness and loneliness 😦 Jim Carey is not the only one to have experienced this, many millions of people have forged on through their lives searching and working for more, more money, more possessions..things… only to crash and burn when a serious problem falls on them.

I was one of these people who had everything,the very successful company, all the money I could want / need, a beautiful home, big flashy cars worth 100’s of thousands of dollars, the beautiful family, incredible holidays, every possession I could ever need but when that call came from my father telling me my mum had cancer and asking me to do something…Wow! That floored me like a punch from a heavyweight boxer, I was out for the count and there was nothing that all my money and possessions could do, I was lost, in a downward spiral and all I could do was give my mum the love and support she needed, be there for my dad, make sure he was looked after with my family all around him and provide the support for my children in their time of need after her passing. This like many other devastating tragedies that happen to us make you aware of what is in fact important in our lives. Please don’t get me wrong, I don’t say you should not be successful, have dreams or work hard for a living, what I mean is we need to realise what is important to us and to make use of the time we have on this earth, protect ourselves, our families and friends and live our lives with love and happiness in our hearts.
Don’t go through your life pushing ever harder each and everyday and miss what’s around you already, don’t miss out on your children growing up, don’t miss out on the love you can give to your family and friends,…Just Live 🙂

Namaste with Love
Always
Mark