The Disease Of More

Last week I received a phone call from a CEO who had recently retired.  However, he was still totally wired to his old life.  In fact, most days he would make a phone call to his old organisation to find out what the latest news was and how the business was going.

Having worked with him for over 15 years, he was very successful in a materialistic sense.  He has over the years invested his money wisely, bought many properties and was driven by a deep inner fear to never grow old in poverty because that was where his life had began.  Yes he certainly had achieved that, but paid the price of losing his marriage ten years previously.  He had spent years achieving more, more and more, and yet it was empty as he had sacrificed his relationship in the pursuit of more.

During our phone call, I asked him, how much was enough?

At first he got grumpy with my question, however he paused and said “Molly all of my life, I have chased more and now that I have it, my life is still empty.”

I then asked him what is the real more he truly seeks?  His reply was…

“Peace of mind and someone to share my life with.”

I now realised in that moment that sometimes we lose sight of who we truly are and what we most value.  If we are not careful, we can chase more of everything else and the quest for more becomes a virus.