Who Are Your Real Friends?
Question: What is important in life? Friends? Family? It’s definitely not material things. Unless you live a wildly opulent lifestyle, the history books won’t remember what kind of shoes you had. They’ll remember you for the kind of person you were and for the things you did. Historians will write about your relationships, decisions and experiences.
So let’s agree that your relationship and experiences with friends and family are the most important things in life.
Now who are your friends and family? Who are the people that will be there for you when the sh!t hits the fan. The people who will help take care of you when you’re recovering from knee surgery. The people who will mourn you for months or years when you are dead. These are the people you should be dedicating your time and energy to. Yet, we spend 8+ hours a day with a group of people who behave in a friendly manner, call themselves ‘family’ but who couldn’t really care if you were there or not. We call these people ‘work colleagues’.
Throughout your career you may pick up a few really good friends, but most of your work colleagues will drift away once you move on. I think there’s nothing wrong with this, so I’m not trying to be a downer. I’m simply trying to help you realize that there are people out there who appear to be your good friends but really are not. This doesn’t mean you should be unfriendly to them. Simply recognize that some friendships have more depth and longevity than others.
Moral of the story: If you think friends and family are the most important things in life, you need to ensure you are committing your free time to the right people.
This is why I take my kids places on the weekends. This is why I try to go home from work as soon as I can.