We just completed our annual family vacation to Crested Butte Colorado. My wife’s Granddad is 96 years young and alive as ever. He is a pretty amazing man, but in these later years I see the love flowing through him. He is such a treasure to our family, and to humanity. We were there a week, and closed the trip in Denver and my wife is in Boulder at a conference.
I love going to the mountains and being in nature, I think it is a very spiritual experience, and healthy. In the down time / there is no TV, phones barely work, and also no Wi-fi. So we always end up going on hikes and adventures. Our day usually consists of eating breakfast with granddad. I don’t care how long you are around him, you know more and more things about life in the good ole days by just listening to him. Not to mention that he has ‘happy’ hour at his house on the deck every single day at 5:00 sharp. He has a pretty good sized bell on his porch that rings sharply. People come by every single day, from all over the world to meet Granddad. He also is the most popular guy in town, everyone knows him.
I was up late talking to him one night on the trip, and he told me this story. He said that he read an article that highlighted some of the wealthiest men of the modern age. Men like Rockefeller, Howard Hughes etc. He told me that these guys died pretty much alone, broke, or in some sort of mental hospital at some point, at the end of their lives. And then he made this statement that stuck with me all week. He said, ‘All these guys knew how to make money, but they forgot how to live.’
This saying came up over and over during our conversations during the week. Someone would be telling a story, and then we would say, ‘Yup but they forgot how to live’. I just couldn’t help thinking about that statement for the whole week. In my meditation / devotion time I was breathing it in. I resolved that I wanted to be someone that lived! The living I am talking about is not primarily the material. As a matter of a fact I am talking about the opposite. I am afraid we have be trading the ‘abundant life’ that was promised to us as the accumulation of stuff and achievements. But I can now see that the more stuff people accumulate, the more distracted they are from living.
Abundant life to me is the enrichment of becoming who I am created to be. I’ts having true covenant relationships. It’s representing your faith to the unknowns in actions without words. Most times for me the ‘Abundant Life’ that I have is the incredible peace and presence I experience on a daily level.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a 100% believer in God’s prosperity and blessings upon our lives. But for those who have much, much will be required to retain a life that is lived abundantly. In other words it’s hard to live in abundant manner with so many irons in the fire. I would never trade one for the other. This is the life I now live, in awe and in the now presence.
With this thought I would like to challenge you to live abundantly. In all your ‘getting’ and ‘successes’, do NOT forget how to live. Here is a great way to stay grounded in our challenging world to be everything to everyone.
How to live abundantly:
1. Laugh often
2. Be in nature as much as possible
3. Be still and listen to your inner being
4. Fix broken things (debt, relationships, self image, wrong doings, etc)
5. Don’t spend more than you have to give (emotionally or spiritually – it rarely goes well in the end)
6. Don’t just be obedient to your task / be faithful to it!
Obedient people show up / Faithful people always bring their heart
7. God loves you more than you ever could Him
8. Don’t take yourself so seriously (SERIOUSLY) It’s annoying
9. If you find yourself in a jam repeat steps.
You can read more about Granddad Coot Nelson HERE
If you are ever in Crested Butte be sure and stop in for happy hour. You don’t need directions just listen to the bell that rings every day at 5:00 pm.