I am working on a new project for ChristianPF that I will be unveiling soon and while I was doing some studying for it I came across an interesting quote from Steven King.
Apparently his accident that he had a few years back helped put things in perspective for him. I share the quote because it is something that I want to keep in the forefront of my mind as I am navigating through life.
“A couple of years ago I found out what “you can’t take it with you” means. I found out while I was lying in a ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with the tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans like a branch of a tree taken down in a thunderstorm. I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in a ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard.
…We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke. Warren Buffet? Going to go out broke. Bill Gates? Going out broke. Tom Hanks? Going out broke. Steve King? Broke. Not a crying dime. All the money you earn, all the stocks you buy, all the mutual funds you trade—all of that is mostly smoke and mirrors. It’s still going to be a quarter-past getting late whether you tell the time on a Timex or a Rolex….
So I want you to consider making your life one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on…”
— Steven King (Author)
I find it interesting that sometimes it takes terrible events like that to give us a better understanding that things are just things. Of course the Bible said it all along…
For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.
1 Timothy 6:7
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Randy ALcorn has a couple excellent Christian books out that make some very good points. One of those points is “You cant take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.”
One of the books is “Money, Posessions and Eternity”. The smaller one is “The Treasure Principle”
i love it. that puts things in perspective, really. i know a lot of people who live by “you can’t take it with you, so spend it all now” theory. i don’t necessarily agree that you should spend it all and get into debt over the course of your life, because then you’re leaving your debt for your loved ones to pay off. instead, realize you can’t take it with you, live a decent life, but also be smart with your money. save and invest and leave what you have behind with your family, rather than leaving them to pay off your life full of debt.
@Jean
you know I have been wanting to read alcorns book for a while now… I need to get on that…
@Tiffanie
I agree I want to stay balanced living for now as well as being wise to save for the future and of course to give my head off while I am down here!