This sentence has stayed with me since I heard it over 15 years ago.
I like it because - among other things - it sums up the idea that everything is temporary.
Now mind you, I enjoy the finer things. Nice automobiles. A fine home. Great vacations and so on.
But I'm also realistic about material things. I know they can leave us, as fast - or faster - than we acquire them.
More than once in my pre-sober life back in last century I'd be driving down the street in a new car. I'd have a pocket full of money. I'd be living large, then law enforcement would intervene.
Before I could blink I'd be in handcuffs. Life would change before my eyes. My fancy car would be gone. My luxury flat. My freedom and everything that goes with it.
I'd wake up the next morning in the County Jail. Wearing crappy clothes. Eating off a metal tray. I'd find myself living in concrete and steel buildings behind high walls for long periods.
The point of all this, is that while I like material things, my experiences have taught me to not fall in love with them. Eventually the new car ends up at the recyclers. Someone else will live in my nice house. My grandchildren will rule the world.
It's okay to have nice stuff. It's not okay to think that the things we have are who we are or what life is about.
Our real value in the world lies in what we do to lift others up - to make their lives better. This is the essence of being human.
