What surrounds your home are reminders of what’s stored in your heart. ~ Christine Sternfels

I collect memories, not things.  Memories stay in your heart, even when you’re losing your mind.  Things fade, get old, lost, broken, become outdated and useless.  As my dad would say about material things “You can’t take that with you when you’re dead.”.

There was a time when my most precious possessions were beautiful and expensive things.  We lived in a neighborhood of ‘Joneses’.  One day, the entire hill we lived on was almost consumed by a wild fire in Southern California.  The only reminder of those ashes would be the hours of working too much, missing out on my children’s lives and spending whatever time I had at home being too tired and cranky to do anything with my family.  The Grand Prix fire changed my life.

When you get that pay check and you’ve paid your bills and set some aside for a rainy day, try to allot a portion for non-tangible things such as travel and giving back to your community.

There’s nothing wrong with working hard for a living, as long as you make an effort to have a life.  Work to live, don’t live to work.  Then go out there and collect memories.