Z SoccerChic9: My thoughts on travelling...
Sunday, November 05, 2006
I love travelling. I love seeing new places, flying, spending times in hotels, different cities, and meeting new people. The travelling aspect of my job is very enjoyable to me. However, this past weekend in Ottawa was not very enjoyable for me. I sat in my hotel room Friday night flipping through channels and working on some of my projects from the office, and I realized that I didn't like the fact that I was in Ottawa working. I tried to figure out why this was, because Ottawa is a beautiful city (I would love to live there), I was being totally pampered by three different hotels because they wanted my business, I had passes to every museum and art gallery in the Ottawa/Quebec area, I had amazing food by really good chefs - and yet I was sitting there bored. And I realized that as much as I love travelling, if I have to travel alone for the rest of my life, then I wouldn't really want to do it. It's not as fun when you don't have someone to admire things wtih you, or appreciate the beauty of parliment hill at night.

This same line of reasoning happened to me when I was working at my last law firm in Hamiton. I was making good money, in five months I had climbed from just a law clerk position to a manager of the busiest unit in the firm, I handled lawyers tasks such as all the mediations with our clients and the insurance companies, I had a client case load, and I was doing well. And one day I stood in one of the offices after winning $5,000 for one of our client's, and I realized that this was my life. I was climbing the Corporate ladder. I realized that one day I may even make it to the top of that ladder and be very sucessful and popular, but I also realized that it was very empty.

When you picture yourself at the end of your life, what do you think you will remember most? Will it be the fact that you climbed the corporate ladder, or that you saw a million beautiful cities across the world? I tend to think that those "accomplishments" will fade...and what I really will remember are the relationships I have/had with people in my life. I think I'll remember the joy that I received from loving people even when it hurt, I think I'll remember how my family always stood by me, and how my siblings made me laugh, I'll remember my church family adn the fellowship they gave me, and all the people who's lives touched mine in various ways. I suppose I want to be remembered for that also - not for the accomplishments I achieved, but for how I touched people's lives and hopefully left a positive impact.

Sometimes I forget, I get caught up in the here and now - in saving money for law school, planning my career, planning on changing the world by being a lawyer, travelling all across the globe, and being sucessful. I admit, those dreams are often attractive. But when I really stop to think, like this past weekend...it's not about that, life is not about the money or the sucess...it's about the people - and the ultimate question of "Did you live your life to honour God." If you can answer with confidence that you've honoured God with your life, and touched people in a positive way, then I think you are on the right track. Who cares if you worked at Mc Donalds your whole life (other then the fact that their food sucks:)...if you truly lived life to the fullest, loved even when it hurt, and lived to God's glory...then life is well worth it.

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