You Don't Regret the Money. You Regret Not Going.
Money spent reconnecting with people you love isn't an expense. It's an investment — in rest, in memory, in the version of you that isn't checking email at a lake.
"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it." — Seneca
In 1992, I was nineteen and working as a counselor at a summer camp, YMCA Camp Jorn, in Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin. Some mornings, before the campers were up, I'd run a loop called Fawn Lake Circle. Four miles, give or take.
Thirty-plus years later, I was back — older, slower, rucking it instead of running it. We've attended family camp here for quite a few years (check out the video at the bottom of this post). We stay in an Army-type tent that has one outlet, holes in the screen, and this year some water leaking through during a storm. Not everybody would consider the accommodations a good return on investment.
But, each year I come back to this:
Money spent reconnecting with people you love isn't an expense. It's an investment — in rest, in memory, in the version of you that isn't checking email at a lake. I need reminding of this more than I'd like to admit. Maybe you do too.
Where would you go if you stopped counting the cost first? Reply and tell me — I read every one. → Free weekly newsletter: jeremyajorgensen.com
