If you have neglected your loved ones for your career or studies, you need to read this

Last Updated on 2016-05-30 , 9:36 am

If you are a working adult, try answering this question honestly: What is your priority in life? Is it family, career or a calling?

I don’t need to know your answer, nor statistics, to make a subjective conclusion: Most people would answer, “Career.” I merely need to take a walk in CBD at night and look at the number of office units with their lights still on at 10.00 p.m.

If you have answered otherwise, good for you. But if it’s career, maybe you can read this, think about it and share this if you agree.

Why do you choose career? Is it for self-fulfillment, or for career advancement? If it’s for self-fulfillment, then why have you not answered “a calling” instead? If it’s for career advancement…have you ever wondered why you need to get promoted?

It boils down to this: Money. You want more money to provide a better life for your family, or for your “calling”. Are you sure?

Let’s face it: A “better life” is not about having more money tomorrow, but less smiles today. A “better life” is not about neglecting today’s simple family dinner for tomorrow’s expensive lonely dinner. While you can say that I’m narrow-minded to say that, I can argue that no, I’m not, because I was once the person who answered “career” before. I know all the reasons and excuses. I might not have enough life experience as some of you, but I’ve lost something due to that answer before, and losing something big means cherishing something small more.

Maybe we just need a strong wake-up call to change our priorities, and hope that it would not be too late. It is almost akin to how a person would wake up early for work only when the boss threatens to fire him if he’s still late, or a smoker would quit smoking after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. However, for these examples, there might still be a chance to make things right.

You lose your time with your family and gain a career, all the money in the world won’t be able to buy back those precious hours.

So, reflect critically. Have you made the right decision? Are you running so fast in the rat race that you forgot about the simple, yet potentially life-changing, 100m race your child has last week?

Recently, I saw this video on YouTube by TreePotatoes and it conveys the subtle message in one of the most powerful ways ever: How many smiles have you missed for that better tomorrow?