It All Stays Here

Believe it or not, Manny Ramirez said something profound in an interview. When asked if he will try to hit 600 homeruns in his career, he replied (I summarize) that it doesn’t matter if he gets 800 homeruns and a statue in his honor, when he dies he can’t take it with him. Upon going through a thing of pennies I use for poker I found one form 1920. Can you believe that, 1920! This penny saw the Great Depression, WWII, the Civil Rights movement, and guess what else, passed through countless hands. This penny once belonged to many people, who like me, thought it was theirs. Yet when they died it went back out into the world only to fall into someone else’s possession. So why am I writing this? Just think, if all you work for is a milestone or to make enormous amounts of money, in the end what is it all worth? Thinking about baseball, when you die your record is a goal for someone else to beat so they can be greater than you were. In terms of money, all your money will be gone; it doesn’t sit in the bank it goes back out (according to your will). I’m not saying that setting goals is bad; I set goals all the time. What I am saying is that when goals become gods it becomes a problem. The reason it becomes a problem is that in the end you are left saying what was it all worth, and that is the question no one ever wants to ask. In the end, Ramirez is right, we can’t take it with us, all the money I make, homeruns I hit, even blog posts I write, can’t be taken with me they will stay here.