Wisdom story: Family, career, time and missed opportunities

There was once a young and very ambitious businessman named Dan who was lucky enough to find the love of his life, married her, and had two wonderful children. His hard work and dedication also paid off and his career in a global company was skyrocketing. Soon he was the right-hand man to the CEO. The CEO was also a very successful “company man” meaning that he had dedicated and sacrificed countless days, nights, weeks, months, and years to the job. The CEO had no family, but he had some regrets which he never shared with anyone. That was until one day he invited Dan to his office. As soon as Dan stepped into the office the CEO asked him, “Dan, you have sacrificed so much for this company, do you regret anything? Do you ever think of the missed opportunities to be with your family, or to work at a different company?” Dan surprised by the question responds, “Sir I don’t know what you mean. My family knows I love them and that the sacrifices I make I make for them, and that we will have more time together in a couple of years. As for the company I fell I owe you so much because of the career you have enabled me.”

The CEO didn’t find the answer he was looking for so he decided to share a story with Dan to lighten the matter. “Dan imagine for a moment the price of an airplane ticket. Each airplane has a limited amount of space. And the goal of the airline is to fill the airplane as much as possible. The price of the tickets differs depending on which class the seats are in. When an airplane leaves the gate with empty seats, the price of those seats immediately drops to $0.00. Once the plane lifts off, the opportunity to sell the empty seats is gone forever and the airline has absolutely no chance of getting a penny for it. The value of an airline seat is directly related to whether it is occupied. Whether the price is $400.00 or $40.00, the seat has value only if there is a person sitting in it. After take-off, the chance for payment is history. The same can be said about time.”

“What are you trying to say, sir,” asked Dan with a strange look. “Each one of us has a specific amount of time that goes by with every moment. Lost or wasted time cannot be recovered. It is gone the moment that it passes. Once a second is behind you, it cannot be replicated or returned. If you want to be with your loved ones more then you should. If you are with our company because you feel like you owe us something then that is not the right reason. The value of an unused minute drops to zero the moment it passes. The message I want to share with you today Dan is that missed opportunities will never come back. Be sure which missed opportunities you are able to live without and with which you can’t. Know that the time you spend with someone or somewhere you don’t want to falls into the category of missed opportunities. Missed because you will never get that time back. Fill your plane with passengers and don’t waste a single plane ticket!” responded the CEO. “