I read the stories online this week about the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates. With a worth of over $100 billion dollars, countless accolades for all of the good work their foundation have done and having the opportunity to own/do anything/meet anyone they would like to, how could they possibly not be happy? The old adages pop up such as “Money can’t buy you happiness”, “You cannot buy good health”, “Wealth without health is meaningless” and other similar ones basically pointing out that having lots of money does not necessarily translate into great health or happiness.
Focusing more on the health aspect and having tremendous amounts of money, two of the richest people we have known from our country, Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, died at the ages of 74 and 56 respectively. Mr. Walton’s multiple myeloma and Mr. Job’s pancreatic endocrine tumor could care less about how much money either had in their bank accounts. These severe diseases did the same thing to them as others with less than $1000 in their bank accounts.
The point of this entry: We all are motivated to obtain really cool things in our lives such as nice houses, great cars, beautiful clothes, putting money away for our children’s educations, etc etc. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of achieving/maintaining good health so you can both physically and mentally keep doing all of the things you do to bring happiness to you and your loved ones. This starts with staying focused and steadfast on your weight control efforts. Avoiding the serious co-morbidities of poor weight control will markedly increase your chances of staying productive and achieving your goals.
Lots of money does not necessarily translate into great health and/or great happiness. Having lots of good health will brings lots of great stuff. Stay focused!
