The Unraveling Success

I've stopped and looked at people a lot lately. I tend to be a 'people watcher' and I love to sit and note how people interact with each other. I like the idea of everyone having a different story, one that I may never know. People are very complex. That draws my attention to them.
I notice aching people in an instant. I notice people who are hurt, discomforted, and people who are in an unpleasant state.  I often think to myself, how many of these people are upset because of a situation they put themselves in?

A couple of weeks ago, I decided something- I'm going to Bible college.
I had planned to go to business school. Though I can still do this it will be a completely different avenue. I will go with ministry in mind. I decided that I didn't want to be slaving away at a high stake finance job while I could be using the ministry at hand as a business- Beautifully Made. I am going into full time ministry with my business.

I decided this while I was looking at a couple of people in my life, but I'll only share one of their stories.

I have a friend who has been dedicated to his work since day 1. He has been working day in and day out at a finance job that he really didn't like. One day, he woke up and realized something- his daughter had turned 16 the day before.... He didn't wish her happy birthday on her sweet 16... he missed his daughter's birthday..
He asked himself, ' Am I happy?' and obviously his answer was no. He realized how much of life he was missing, and it was too late to take it back. In his late 40's he was realizing that he missed out on all of his life so far...

I don't want that to be me. I want to enjoy life, and I don't want to be a slave to money, people, material things, or the world. I want to be a servant... A servant of God, His people, and the gifts He gave me. I don't want to wake up in my 40's and wonder where my life had gone. I want to be there for all of it.
I don't want to wake up some day, and realize that my 'success' is superficial... Unraveling the truth behind success was important to me- money and materials aren't going to be what you wish you'd spent more time with when you are looking back on life...