This past weekend I was searching for a quote to match a picture and I came across this one that was pretty much an “ah-ha” moment for me.

Everyone that knows me knows that I like to buy things – nice things. But at some point in your life, I think you realize that at the end of the day, these things aren’t important.

I was having a conversation with a good group of friends of mine this evening and I was saying – “you know, when I’m 90, what am I going to value? I hope that at the point in my life, I’ll be very wise…and be surrounded by the people that I care about.”

It’s true though right? What good is a hoodie, or a car, or a television? I love ALL of these things, but I think it’s because of where I go with them, what I do with them and the memories created by them. This quote put that all into perspective – it’s not about what we buy, what we have or what we want, it’s about who we’re with during these times of excitement, memory and even hardship.

You’ll see me posting the hashtag – #TheMemoriesWeMake – because I want to spend my life making memories and not making transactions. Will I continue to shop? Yes. Will I continue to buy. Of course. But my priority is going to be to live and enjoy every minute of it. There are many obstacles in life that keep us from doing this but at some point, you just don’t care about these obstacles, the haters, or even the ones that do nothing but try to stand in your way – and that’s freeing. What’s left when you give your worries to God (or whatever your higher power may be)? What’s left when you ignore the hate and do nothing but be positive? — happiness.

The people that care about your personal happiness will remain if you continue to return the investment. The weight of the world on your shoulders will be lifted when you don’t care about THE world but you care about YOUR world. And most importantly, when problems do arise, there will be people that are there for you, care about you and want to ensure that you’re doing ok; even during times of chaos – there’s that silver lining. The problems will be there, but it’s all about how you tackle them that defines your personal happiness and overall attitude.

Remember that life isn’t a box of the same chocolates, life doesn’t give us perfect lemons and life isn’t always fair – but if we change our perception, work on ourselves and invest in those that we love then you really can get through anything.

I feel personally luckily to be surrounded by such great people because at the end of the day, when I’m 90 years old and can’t even function, I’m going to not think about what’s in my wallet, I’m going to think about the life I lived based on #TheMemoriesWeMake.