I read an email yesterday that I thought was really good and kinda brings things into perspective. I am going to have to paraphrase (I do that a lot) because I deleted the email but it went something like this:

A mother came home exhausted from working all day and was greeted at the door by her 5 year old son.
"Mommy, how much money do you make an hour?"
The mom got upset that her son would ask such a guestion after she had worked so hard all day long.
"Son, that really is none of your business" the mom said.
The more the mom thought about how rude her son was, the angrier she got at him, but she finally gave in and told him, "Well, if you have to know, I make $20 an hour."
Then the son replied, "Well, mommy, can I borrow $5?"
This really set the mother off. She couldn't believe that he would be so selfish and ask for such a thing after she had worked so hard for the money that she makes. The mother sent the boy to his room.
The more the mother sat and thought about what her son had asked, the angrier she got. She was tired and couldn't believe that her child would be this selfish and self centered about such a thing.
But, then the mother thought that what if her son needed the $5 for something important, so she went up to his room. She sat on the side of his bed and asked, "Son, are you still awake?"
The son replied, "Yes, mommy I'm still awake."
She handed the boy the $5 bill. The boy sat up in the bed and pulled out more money from under his pillow. This floored the mother. How could her son ask for $5 when he already had all of this money stashed away. She began to get mad again. Just then the boy started to count out his money. He counted $15 and then turned to the mother, "Mommy I had been saving this money and when you said you made $20 an hour, I knew I only needed $5 more to make that."
He gave the money to his mother.
"Mommy, can I buy just one hour of your time? Will you come home early one hour early from work tomorrow and spend it with me?"

If we die tomorrow, the company that we work for could replace us within the hour, the family and friends that we leave behind would feel the loss forever.

Let's slow down, look around at what we have consumed ourselves with, and change it if we need to. Our family, our children, and the people that truly care about us are what is important in life. What kind of impression are we making on them?

Jennifer