It is so easy to get swept up in our day to day lives and lose perspective. So easy to focus on seemingly important goals and activities that, in the long run, really aren’t all that important.

Is it important to be responsible and plan for retirement? Of course. But we don’t have to be Scrooge to get there.

Yes, it is important to work hard and take our jobs and careers seriously. But so much so as to validate ignoring our children or spouse or other responsibilities? No way, not even close.

It seems too many people are so dang serious about things that ultimately just don’t matter a whole lot. Take sports for example. I like watching a good game, but it doesn’t ruin my week when my favorite team loses. Sure I would like my daughter’s 6th grade soccer team to win. But not enough to scream at the volunteer referee.

Don’t get me wrong. I care about things. I think it is good to care about things that are meaningful and important to us. But there has to be balance in all things. For everything serious, we need a little bit of silliness.

Caution: Just don’t let the pendulum swing too far to the other side. It is just as easy to seek a life of constant, mindless pleasure and ignore what genuinely needs our attention.

To your good fortune!