You can't always get what you want

I did not attend my 30th high school reunion. Not because I didn't want to. The Princess had to work that weekend and finding a sitter for Carson on an overnight is not that easy, or cheap.

I just looked at some photos from the event and I see that our valedictorian attended. Along with 45 others out of about 350 or so. Not the greatest attendance, but not bad either.

It has only been recently that my parents attend their reunions and those are from over 50 years ago, so our class has time.

I wonder out of all those people, how many ended up where they wanted to or at least where they thought they would.

When I was a senior, I took a psych class where the teacher asked us to fill out an index card with our goals and he would mail them 5, perhaps more, years later. I was surprised that mine found me, since we had moved away only a year after that. For the five year mark, I was surprisingly on target.

Clearly from my blogs, I am not on the track anymore.

The funny thing is, most people who are financially successful didn't set out to be. I have a friend who was a lawyer and now has a 25 year success story as a recruiter. My wife who does incredibly well wanted to be a mom.

I guess the one thing I always wanted was to be happily married. It only took me three times to get that right.

A current song by those of you who listen to the radio is the Miley Cyrus song, "The Climb." Regardless of what you think about her or the song, the lyrics are really true, the climb is what life is all about. It isn't whether you get there or how well off you are when you do.

I have known some very wealthy people and they aren't always very happy. I know that having money helps eliminate one issue, but it can and does create others.

I think that too many people today get so focused on making money, they forget to enjoy the climb. And those that do make a lot of money, in most cases, spend way too much time on the job instead of enjoying the people around them. And that is why there are so many divorces: not focusing on each other. Failing to remember why you said "I do."

The same goes for kids. People quit remembering why they said "I do" to wanting a kid and fail to give them the one thing they need, "time." It is truly the one thing that money can't buy. And it is a great equalizer in the end. Because when you spend so much effort toward one, you lose sight of the other.

Don't get me wrong. I wish I had a ton of money (the Princess wishes that I did too). But all I ever really wanted, I now have. The Princess and Carson.

And thus, you get what you need.