Our Greatest Contribution is Our Investment in Others
- Rob Rickman
- Nov 16, 2017
- 2 min read
by Rob Rickman
Our greatest contribution is our investment in others. // As our days accumulate, we gravitate closer to a time when we will eventually die. The death of our physical self is an oft misunderstood benefit of life. It punctuates our existence, providing a clear reason to appreciate and maximize our finite time here. Truly, life is more fun because of death. It instructs us to not take ourselves or the events of this existence too seriously. After all, we are going to die anyway. One of the central tenets in the discipline of physics is that energy never dies. It is, instead, transformed in a never-ending recycling process. Who is to say that consciousness does not operate the same way? Perhaps we shed this form for another. Looked at this way, death is pretty great, as it also offers relief. Furthermore, what is a legacy without an ending? We cannot take anything with us when we die. All we have, we leave behind. As a result, there are two paths we can go by. One is focused on acquiring things for oneself, which runs in contrast to the alternative path that calls us to relinquish on behalf of others. Everything we spend our precious time acquiring does not go with us when we die. What good, then, would it do us to focus on ourselves when the only things we leave behind are what we give to others? Consider the immeasurable impact of Abraham Lincoln's compassion for the enslaved. Any obsession with the accumulation of possessions for selfish reasons looks pathetic and ridiculous by comparison. One can fade in an instant, while the other is a flame passed into eternity, granting immortality to those who dare to care for others more than themselves. It begs the question, who dies happiest with their choice? // Our greatest contribution is our investment in others. //
Rob Rickman, M.Ed., NCC
Therapist / Writer / Entrepreneur / Speaker / Professional Organizer
Nashville, TN
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