Living In A Material World...

Living In A Material World...

What's your hobby? What's your passion?

For me, it's mechanical things. If it has gears, and runs mechanically, it's cool. Steam Locomotives, Early Diesel-Electric Locomotives, Cars, Trucks, Airplanes. Even the mechanical simplicity of a Bicycle Derailleur Gear System inspires a spark. Oh yeah. You have my attention. So, what's the problem?

I live in the heart of NASCAR country. If you're a bonafide car freak (like me!), this IS home. More horsepower here than in most ports (and if you think about how much horsepower it takes to move a container ship across the ocean at speed, you can see the scale!). Nevermind that NASCAR is the motorsports equivalent of Pro Wrestling (think about that, with the background drama of cheating, whining, and drivers divorcing their teams), the mechanical aspects of the sport draw me like a moth to a flame. A high strung NASCAR V-8 screaming along at 9200 rpms is symphonic.

The problem comes when I ask myself "So what good is it, in the long run?" If Dale Jr. gets good like his Daddy, how does that impact the world? There is more to life than mechanical things. Most successful husbands have long figured out that there is more to marriage than sex with a beautiful young wife. We get old, so we'd better get along with our mates on much deeper levels. So it is with life: The fun stuff is great, but there had better be more or else you're in trouble.

This brings me to my point. In a material world, where we are often overloaded with fun choices, there is more in life than what's on the surface. Look for the meaning of it. Life's meaning can be found in the relationships that we have with others. I'd bet that Dale Jr. would give up a year's winnings to have another month with Dale Sr.. Our passion should be our relationships. 

Our relationships are what makes us rich, not the things that we temporarily posess.