Gramps

Anyone who knows me well knows that my grandpa Harold was a very important part of my life. He passed 8 years ago this January, and I carry him with me to this day. Recently I was thinking about Gramps and have something to share.

When I was younger, say just starting my career, putting it all together, I remember that, like many young folks, how I defined success was by building and creating. Like, “I’m going to be a millionaire by age 30, grow my company, blah blah blah. Worthy goals I suppose, but that’s not the point of the story. One thing I remember was that as time went on, and my grandfather became older, he would give / share things with me that were valuable to him. Like he gave me his coveted golf clubs. Or even something like sending me home with a mountain of spaghetti to be sure I didn’t starve. Lol. I was at the age where I was happy to take what he had to give because I greatly admired him and liked adding “things” to my life. At the time, I never thought about it from his perspective; just mine.

I think there’s something that happens to people as they age and mature in this world. There comes that shift point where you move from accumulating, to distributing, building to legacy. As I look back, it was him processing “what it all means” for him, and providing that stamp on the world after he is gone. Maybe it could be explained as a natural progression in life. Fair enough, but I think there can be something even more powerful if we let ourselves become aware of it.

Our relationship was awesome. However, what if I could have found early on that the gift of time would end up being more important than anything material “thing” he could ever give me? What if there could have been a greater balance between two people meeting in the middle as it were, and bridging legacies instead of waiting until he passed to find out what he may have truly wanted. (The paperwork was in the drawer, and that’s where we were to go when he passed). And what if those moments we spent together were joined in the present, instead of one being focused in the past and the other on the future?

This story is one which is probably similar to those playing out in your own lives. We all wrestle with the time we have vs what we value. Heck, I wrote a book about this exact subject a while back. As we move forward into the future, I want to continue to push the envelope relating to gaining greater meaning in our lives, how it all connects, and how we can give power to our journey. It’s life in its truest form.

By the way, you may be wondering what all of this has to do with financial planning? Everything!

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