Trip to the Waterfalls Sparks a Memory

Before leaving Sioux Falls this week, Colleen and I stopped at the waterfalls downtown.  This was a nice treat seeing as Colleen loves them.  While we were there, a wedding party was having their pictures taken.  This took me back to our wedding day.  Thinking about what I thought life had in store for us. In my mind I was going to be successful and this in turn was going to make us happy.  Success to me at that time was defined as financial success.  Over the next several years this is what I drove toward with little thought or regard to friends or family. It was first the house we wanted to own, then the cars we would drive and the “stuff” we would buy.  Of course none of these things brought us true happiness, joy or contentment.  When one thing was obtained, it was on to the next thing.  We were trying to fill a hole with stuff.  All the while Colleen and I were drifting apart.  Of course the hole that had to be filled never was and never will be filled with stuff.  It took many years and a lot of heartache for us to realize what is really truly important.

Thank God I never did attain the type of success that I had in my mind at the time.  God had a very different plan for us, a much better plan.  As we were driving, Colleen was sleeping next to me and the dogs sleeping in the back. What I experienced at that moment was complete contentment.  It was as if there wasn’t anything that could add to the moment. This feeling is by no means constant, but I feel them more and more.

The idea of success brings to mind a quote from Jim Rohn “ Success is not to be pursued, it is to be attracted by the person you become”.

What I did not realize on our wedding day is that we had everything we really needed and that was each other.