I was listening to the radio on
the way home the other evening and Gladys Knight happened to be singing,
"Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me". I have always enjoyed that
song, especially, the way she sang it. What a thought provoker: I have had so
many best
things happen to me that if I
could share, where would I start, and how long would my list be? Can the best
things include events, as well as things, and especially people? The thought
occurred to me that making such a list would be a great way to start writing a
personal history.
Verse two of the song states
that; "If anyone should ever write my life story. For whatever reason
there might be." Gladys should change the verse to say; "If ever I
should write my life story, For whatever reasons there might be". If all
of the personal histories that have ever been written were analyzed would the
'best things' described in those histories be primarily 'things' and 'events'
or would the best things be described as the people that found their way in and
out of our lives? My guess would be 'people' and the following study confirms
that.
One of the most comprehensive
long term research studies ever conducted began at Harvard in the late nineteen
thirties. There were 268 men who entered college that year and this study
followed those men for 72 years through wars, careers, sickness, health,
marriage, parenthood, grandparenthood, and old age. The primary researcher was
Dr. George Vaillant, a man who essentially devoted his life to keeping the
project alive. The men in this study illuminate the one single factor that
correlated most highly with a positive life assessment in old age. This factor
came out while Dr. Vaillant was being interviewed in 2008 in respect to a
question about what he had learned from the men in the study. He said that the
most important thing that he had learned is that: "The only thing that
really matters in life are your relationships to other people." It merely
confirmed what the oldest and the wisest people among us have always known.
The most successful life is not
based on what we get or have. The most significant moments were births, deaths,
weddings, family celebrations and associations. Our most profound moments are
when we touch others, or when they have touched us during times of suffering,
loss, sickness, or death as well as times of happiness and joy. A satisfactory
life is about human connections: parents, siblings, spouses, children, friends,
neighbors and mentors. Without them, life loses its flavor; lasting
satisfaction with one's life is rare outside of meaningful human relations.
You and I are in a profession
that allows us to meet many people, most of them on an intimate basis as we get
to know them in the course of our work. You provide a service and a solution to
the financial challenges of living and dying, yes. But you also learn from them
and expand your life skills, your compassion for them and thus your circle of
friends. At the same time you make an impression on those you meet. Do you know
how your relationship enhances their life? What a unique and special work it is
that you have chosen as a career.
All good things require your
attention and sustaining effort to remain viable and helpful to your clients
and friends now and into the future. That is one reason for belonging to NAIFA
and contributing your time and resources to advocating for the value NAIFA
brings to the marketplace, to your world. I urge you to maintain your
membership in NAIFA, the premier organization for professional insurance and
financial advisors. And I urge you to support the advocacy effort by
contributing to the top political action committee, IFAPAC. If you are on the
monthly bank draft, carry on. If you contribute annually, now is the time to
send that check. Thank you for your support.
Richard Ek, LUTCF
NAIFA WA IFAPAC Co-Chair
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