The Astronaut and the Farmer

Robert and Sam went to high school together.

They lost touch and didn’t see each other for 40 years until they happened to run into each other at the local market.

“What have you been doing with yourself?” Robert asked his old friend.

“I became an astronaut.” Sam said, “What about yourself?”

“I was a farmer.”  responded Robert.

As they walked away from each other, Sam the astronaut felt sorry for his old friend and Robert the farmer found himself regretting his life, believing that he had underachieved.

A couple of weeks later, they ran into each other again.

“I meant to ask about your family the last time we met,” said Robert the farmer.

Sam looked slightly embarrassed.

“I was so focused on work that I’ve been divorced three times and unfortunately I’ve lost touch with my kids,” he responded.  “What about yourself?”

“That’s my wife of 35 years over there and my three kids and nine grandkids are coming over for lunch later today.  We have a great relationship and I love having my family around,”  said the farmer.

As they walked away from each other, Robert the farmer couldn’t help but feel sorry for his old friend and Sam the astronaut felt the pangs of regret as he realised what he was really missing out on.

We often fall into the trap of defining success by job titles or earnings and forget about the things that matter.

I have two questions for you today:

    * Who’s really more successful the astronaut or the farmer?

    * And which one are you?