Kornkob’s Corner

I talk to many people in the course of a week and was recently struck by the idea that some people ‘live’ life and others merely exist in their lives.
Working in sales, I am surrounded by people from all walks of life that I work with and work for. Some of the people I work with are quite well off financially and I look at them as mentors to some degree to see how they achieved success and what that success provides them. I could see the fancy cars and fancy houses and numerous trips to trendy locations around the country and world but something kept causing my ’something’s not right’ nerve to tingle. It took talking to an 83 year old man to make it clear.
This 83 year old man was telling me about how he liked to hike, canoe, ski, build gazebos for friends, and various other activities. He is not particularly wealthy, relatively speaking, and commented that he did these things because they allowed him to enjoy discovery and kept the youthful concept of awe about the world around him to remain alive. He said “I make a point to enjoy the journey and don’t burden myself with worries of a destination. Where I end up in life is less important than knowing how I got there and getting full enjoyment out of my experiences. I though of Kob’s father who has ALWAYS been one to live for the moment with nary a concern for the future. Thinking of the future for whatever reason is foreign to him and yet he has done more in 60 years of life than everyone reading this combined.
The people I mentioned earlier with financial means are buying things and going places because that is what is expected of them in their minds. They are illustrating success by giving those around them the picture of it. Yet I wonder if they get any real enjoyment out of driving a sweet car, or seek new adventures while visiting interesting places. I suspect they view their high performance cars like I view my minivan, a way to get from point a to point b. They go to Vegas and are clueless that there is a world of wonderment OFF the strip to experience. They are totally focused on reaching goals and attaining status that they wouldn’t know what a rose smelled like if you crammed it up their noses.
Having goals is important in that it provides direction in life. The path to those goals need not be a paved super highway. Follow the dirt trail from time to time. This concept has been a common theme of many a story or song for a reason. However, taking that concept from the romanticized concept and applying it to real life is not so common.
Are you living your life and participating in the journey? I have to admit I have not done so as much as I should have and that is the only true regret I may have about my life thus far. The good news is I am still fairly young and can adjust. Can you?