The Meaning of Life

Recently, I read that J.K. Rowling, the hugely successful British author of the Harry Potter series of books, has been ranked as the 1,062nd wealthiest person in the world by Forbes.

I suppose, if you followed that list to its logical conclusion, I would rank somewhere around # 4 billion.

That's just a guess. I know I'm doing better than the millions of people in Third World countries who have to choke down powdered milk from relief agencies in order to survive (or, as my 78-year-old father likes to say, to "keep body and soul together"), but I'm hardly Donald Trump, if you know what I mean.

Of course, no one can compile a list that is that extensive. And it's probably just as well. Would you want to be able to look at such a list and discover that your neighbor -- or, worse, the idiot you knew in high school -- earns more than you do?

I heard once that income is a terrible way to keep score.

I guess that's true. There are more important things that give value to your life -- even if it's harder to think of them in recessionary times!

If you're married, having (and being) a good spouse adds value to your life. If you have children, being a good parent adds value to your life.

If you have a good family -- if one or both of your parents are still living and if you have loving siblings -- that adds value to your life. It's a value that can't be measured, and you won't have it forever. So be grateful for it while you have it.

If you have good friends, that adds value to your life. And I feel my friends are about the best there is. I've been through some rough times in my life, and my friends have been there for me. I'm grateful for that. I hope I'm as good a friend to them as they've been to me.

Doing something for a living that you enjoy doing adds value to your life. It can be more valuable than doing something you hate simply because it pays better. Or pays at all.

A job can be seen as a means to an end -- but it doesn't have to be. Does it?

Good books, good music, good films. The arts bring beauty to your life and add value to it.

Your dreams add value to your life, but, contrary to what may be the prevailing belief, dreams don't always come true.

I once dreamed of writing best-selling books, like Rowling does. Maybe that will happen one day, but, as I've gotten closer to my 50th birthday, I've had to accept the probability that it isn't going to happen.

And that's OK. I don't have to move past her in Forbes' rankings -- to #1,061 -- to validate my life.

I don't need to leave something behind that tells future generations that I was here.

I was here. That's legacy enough for me.

On second thought, though, Grandma Moses was in her 70s when she started her painting career ...