Surrendering to the rat race leads to loneliness. In Ecclesiastes 4:8 Solomon says driven people end up all by themselves. Back in 1985, Charles Swindoll encountered a 47-year-old guy who experienced this.
The man had a high-pressure job and was very successful. He worked six-and-a-half days a week and was on his way to working seven days a week. In his own words, he was a classic, driven workaholic.
But in the process of getting ahead he had lost his relationship with his wife and kids. The guy said they were like strangers living under the same roof. His son would no longer speak to him. His younger daughter told him bluntly, “I don’t like being with you anymore.” His wife was afraid of him.
This is a man who was earning six figures 30 years ago. He had a country club membership, a luxurious car provided free by his company, and a private jet. Yet he had recently been caught embezzling over $15,000 from the corporation. They didn’t put him in jail, but they made him pay it all back and then promptly fired him.
He had lost his job, lost his reputation, lost the one thing that gave him identity, and his family was happier when he wasn’t around. His pitiful question to Swindoll was, “How do I go back and do it over?” Tears were streaming down his face.
You can’t do your life over. But you can go in a new direction from this point on. The secret is to grab your job with one hand, and leave your other hand free for the rest of your life (Ecclesiastes 4:6). This is the way to peace and tranquillity.
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Adapted from “Living On the Ragged Edge,” p. 119.