by Debra | Jul 5, 2014 | happiness
My husband, David (and Harley), and I just returned from a mini vacation camping on the lake. You meet some interesting people camping; most of them very like-minded in their approach to life. I think it works that way with most hobbies; each attracting a certain kind of individual. On the last night of our trip we found ourselves parked next to a couple who were celebrating their 33rd wedding anniversary. In chatting with them we discovered that they were also self-employed. He’s a plumber and they’ve built what sounds like a pretty successful commercial plumbing business. They lamented at how infrequently they are able to use their motorhome, because they are so busy. They went on to say that he had recently had a heart attack, has diabetes, and takes no less than 17 medications on a daily basis. He’s only 52. I suggested that perhaps it was time they hire someone to groom to take over as a successor so they didn’t have to work so hard. He replied “I birthed them” meaning they have two sons (both over 30) as possible successors, and yet, he had all kinds of reasons why he couldn’t groom either one of them at this point in time. I sat there in a little bit of a state of shock. Usually, when someone has a life event like a heart attack, it causes them to stop and reevaluate their life and what’s really important. Here were two people who were literally working themselves to death and still not willing to revaluate how they were living their life. At the end of...
