What really matters...

Lately, as I have watched the home get lived in, been doing school with Kimball, tried to work out, got yet another dog (we are still evaluating THAT), I have been thinking about what in life really matters and how do we get there. No I don't have any answers but I just have a few thoughts on the matter.
First off, does anyone remember (seriously?) how clean their toilet was when they were growing up? I'm not talking about cleaning it and thinking about how gross it was and why did I have to clean it...I'm talking about when we look back at our childhoods do we seriously remember every little cleaning thing? Honestly, I don't. I remember cleaning the toilets, bathrooms, vacuuming endlessly and so on-but as to the cleanliness of each room, I don't recall. Is that important? I've been thinking about this as each morning school is consuming my time. Is it really going to help me have a great relationship with my kids to clean all the time? And with four boys, three dogs, two cats, trust me, I could be cleaning all the time! I don't think so. Now I think it's important to teach HOW to clean, WHY we clean and so on. It's important to have a home that doesn't look like a garbage dump. But to have it sooo spotless all the time? In my opinion, I'm not so sure. Maybe that's because I have other things I enjoy doing more than picking up wrappers, or scraping gum off the floor; or maybe it's because I think there are more pressing matters to worry about and I only have so much energy to go around. Now, I have to note that it's NOT cleaning I have a problem with exactly--it's just that spending time with my children is more important to me than a spotless toilet. And I have learned that we CAN clean together (and often do because it's quicker) and also spend time together. But what do I want my children to remember about their childhoods? That Mom was always too busy picking up to read to them, or too busy folding laundry to play games? I think it's a matter of what battles I want--and when my boys grow up and have children of their own, I hope they look back and say-let's focus on people and not things-because it's people that matter.
Another thing is money. If you have too much (never a problem for me)you can't spend it fast enough, and if you have too little (in your opinion)you try to get more of it. Money buys stuff. Money doesn't buy love or good relationships, or friendships (didn't you see that movie?)or time with your kids, parents, friends. In this society I think we often equate money=good everything else. If you have that big huge house, and that RV and boat and so on, you will be happy. But don't we learn anything from the Book of Mormon? Prosperity only means happiness if you share and don't let it go to your head. And through history, we often learn that we usually let it go to our heads. Now I'm not saying (here's the disclaimer) that money is evil or you shouldn't go work hard to earn it. I'm saying you need to think carefully about how it's spent. How many times do we go to the store and buy something we think is going to make us happy? I certainly do--and chocolate does make me momentarily happy. (It's the hours of working out afterward that makes me unhappy about consuming the chocolate). If we focused more on things that money cannot buy--I think we would not only save money but be a happier people. In our world today, I know the focus is on ME ME ME. If you spend enough money on yourself, you will be happy. I think the real way is spending less money on yourself, less money on things, and more genuine time helping/listening to others. That brings REAL lasting happiness-which is what we all want.
When we listen to what the world is saying--which is hard NOT to-the TV, internet, radio, phones, etc. are in our homes--then we figure that if we hear it often enough-it must be true. It's not. When we come into this life, we have what matters--a love of a parent. We should strive to live so that when we leave this life-we have what matters too--the love of our children and posterity. Things are just that. Inanimate objects designed to make our lives easier. Let's not make them the focus of our lives. Then we are going to be missing out on what brings song to our souls. The best things in life aren't things. As we travel through this new year, let us focus on serving people and bring real happiness and lasting joy to not just our life, but to the precious people all around us.
End of Lecture.