Life's collection. What are you collecting?

On Saturday night I lost my grandfather; a sweet man who was a true gentleman. He loved ardently, remembered remarkably and delighted in sharing quality time with others. He will be sorely missed. I have several posts I had written prior to my grandfather passing away but right now I am not sure about their timing so instead of sharing my past posts I'm going to talk to you about life. 

Life is something that we all cherish more when we are at risk of losing it or when something reminds us of its fragility. While it was never my grandfather's approach to life it is one held by many; this nonchalant belief that 'it doesn't matter I'll have time.' You know what IT does. Whatever 'it' resembles to you, you need to do it. Time doesn't have a warning bell, it isn't always going to remind you to get your shit together and it shouldn't have to. This is why life MUST be about collecting memories and not things. I don't just mean mass material things that control our lives and our minds but I also mean the things that change our hearts and destroy our relationships like bitterness, jealousy, envy, anger and hatred.

Now you can justify till the cows come home that a $3000 watch, a $2000 mixer, $600 vacuum cleaner, $80 000 car, $600,000 house or a 20year old 'righteous' grudge makes you happy but here is the harsh reality:

On Earth without memories you merely exist as a set of business transactions, cards, rooms & buildings that need to be packed up, donated or sold. Nothing else. 

When people speak of you they won't care about those finer things in life they'll care about the quality time they had with you. They'll think of shared laughter, tears, stories, pain and the quality time you spent together. They will recognise how you treated others and contributed to the world. When they look on your life they won't just see stories but bravery, courage, strength, honesty, trustworthiness, determination and intelligence- but only if you show it. People will not say, 'he/she was a good talker but let many down'. They will only talk about the actions.

So I ask of you these things:

1. Who are you? 

2. What do you want?

3. What matters to you most & why?

4. What VALUES do you want to leave generations with? How will they positively impact on those that come after you?

Now ask yourself these things:

1. Do I have what I need?

2. Do I have too much of what I want?

3. Where can I down size?

4. What reminders can I give myself that LOVE not money/possessions/angst rules over my life? 

After you have done this look through your house. Spring clean. Get rid of excess. Donate. Go to Salvation Army Crisis Centres and give away your goods if you don't want people to have to pay for products that help them to survive everyday life.

Focus on giving not getting & collect memories of altruism. Add them to the memories you have and will continue to have of quality time spent with loved ones. FYI phones, tablets, Xbox, playstation do not count unless of course you are using it as a sporadic bonding sesh. Show others you care enough about them to speak. 

Collect memories not things so that when it is your time to be celebrated, just like my grandfather, the difficulty lies in summing up all the positive content of your life not finding some. 

Till next time xo