A short spoken reflection by Ryan Daniel Moran (Capitalism.com) contrasting attending a young friend's funeral with celebrating his grandfather's 90th birthday. Moran emphasizes the uncertainty of life spans, the primacy of present relationships and memories over accomplishments or material legacy, and the importance of finding satisfaction in the present rather than deferring it to the future.
So, as some of you know, I came home to Cleveland this week kind of last minute for a funeral. Unfortunately, a friend of mine from high school was killed in a tragic accident this week. And although I hadn't seen him in many years, I was very close with his family growing up. So it was one of those things that, you know, you just, you have to go to be there for the people that you loved, even if you haven't seen them in years. Now here is the irony of the trip. But it was my grandfather's 90th birthday and they were throwing him a surprise party. First day was the funeral for my buddy who lost his life at 30 years old. And the next day was a birthday party, a celebration of life from my 90 year old grandfather. And the contrast of these two events was so striking because one was so tragic and somber and one was so elevated and full of gratitude. And the whole family knew this is probably the last family reunion before the leader of the family goes on and joins my buddy in the next life. And the stark contrast of this was, was so interesting and it was such a reminder of the fact that literally none of us know if we're going to have one more motorcycle ride like my buddy or if we have 60 more years and we'll still be kicking. None of us know if we will be the person that we, that the family is mourning or the person that the family is celebrating. None of us know that. Literally none of us know that. And we can make plans. And it's kind of, it's kind of cute how we all make plans. My buddy had lots of plans. My grandfather had lots of plans. We never know how many days we're gonna have left. You can eat the right foods, you can build the right businesses, you can have the right relationships. But one wrong turn or one tragic event can change everything or not. And we might have 60 years left. But I also know that my grandfather, it was one of the best days of his life. Looking back, we did this, My brother made this slideshow to music. Not a dry eye in the whole place. And my nine year old grandfather is looking back on his life. It was almost like a funeral for a person who is still alive. It was this really beautiful thing. And he's looking back at the slideshow of all these, all these photos from times he went boating, to times that he was out with his five kids, to playing with his grandchildren, to playing with his aunt. Fifteen great grandchildren, just pictures of all of them. And there wasn't a single word uttered about what my grandfather accomplished. There was not a single word uttered about what my grandfather did for a living. There was not a single word uttered about how much inheritance he's going to leave to his kids. Not a single word. It was on no one's mind. And at the same time, there was none of that said about my buddy who lost his life either. The only thing that was discussed were the memories with the people that each of those men loved and the good times that were shared with each of those two men. And so this stark contrast simply reminded me. I spend so much of my life living for one day, living for tomorrow, living for when the time comes. And the time never comes. You're always here. It's always now. And we never know if we're going to get one more of Those days or 90 years of those days. But at the end of it all, there will be very little uttered about what we accomplished. There will be very little uttered about what we left. I mean, even the richest people who leave the most, who leave the most to charity, who have buildings named after them are now some of the most hated people in history. They. They tear down those buildings and those statues. So. So what are we all trying to accomplish by doing great things if they don't have meaning in the now? If they don't have meaning while we are still here on earth? And it was a reminder to me that I don't know if I'm gonna go this year or in 70 years, which is still earlier than I planned, because I think I'm gonna be around for well over a hundred years. But we have no idea. And there's no point in trying to push off satisfaction until later because the most satisfaction happens when you're satisfied in the now. And you are building within that satisfaction and bringing more and more hope and joy and love to the experience that you have now. And that was my reminder this week. I'm Ryan Daniel Moran from capitalism.com we help entrepreneurs build seven figure businesses. When you're ready for us will be ready for you, and you can start your journey@capitalism.com start.
