Why do we waste time on the useless people?
I was on assignment for work, running through IKEA with a huge agenda of things to see and do for work and play. There are so many things I want to do and life is short.
Then something caught my eye: a parade of moms slowly pushing wheelchairs of adult children between the beautiful furniture vignettes. The children were mostly characterized by floppy wrists, necks craning back, and open drooling mouths.
I thought, “What a waste. These mom’s are pouring their lives into people that will never become nearly as capable to do anything as they are.”
But at that moment, wondering why these mothers do what they do, I realized that what motivates most of my life is what is flawed.
My eternal value is not based on what I leave behind in my life, it is what I take with me. And that is the person I am becoming.
And so then I thought maybe these mothers are spending their time in exactly the right way. They are becoming people who are practiced and poised in love. I think acts of true kindness will be remembered after time passes away as well but it is who we are becoming, not what we make or accomplish, that we take with us to the next life.
Raw Spoon
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