My grandfather being in the hospital really puts things into perspective for me. No matter how wealthy we are, it means nothing if we aren’t healthy. Many people, including myself, work so hard at our jobs. We miss lunches, and sometimes sleep just to advance our career a little more. We work late on weekdays and on weekends because we think we can make more money that way. Although I can tell you first hand that the financial reward is there, our health definitely suffers.
Whether it’s the extra stress we put on our bodies or the lack of healthy food we consume, it takes a toll on our bodies over time. When we are young, we don’t feel it but we are slowly and surely degrading our health. We might end up being rich, but we are more likely to end up being sick.
By overworking, we are also likely neglecting our family and friends. Unfortunately, there is only 24 hours in a day. Therefore, we are deciding how best to use our time every minute of our day. When we are working, we cannot be spending time with our family or our friends. My family for instance decided that my dad should work in Hong Kong when we immigrated to Canada. Consequently, I spent most of my teenage years away from my dad. Although this was very hard for me, it was much harder for my father since he was the one making the most sacrifice by living alone in Hong Kong. Although I’m sure our family’s financial situation improved because of the decision made years ago, we all traded many potential family moments for it.
In this blog, we discuss ways to achieve financial freedom. But if we are sick, our finances are usually one of the last things that we think about. For my grandfather, no gold will make him happy. It is our love that he seeks now, and it is love that we will do our best to provide.
