Invictus Investing
“Your efforts are paying fantastic dividends.”
He said it as he walked from the bakery to his car a white paper bag clutched in his left hand.
I had been running almost three miles by then, only half-present to the familiar landmarks of my daily route, and he caught me by surprise. That time of morning, most people aren’t out and about. Even fewer are chatty.
He was heavy-set. Ambling more than walking. And his tone made it unclear if his comment was as much a compliment to me as it was a condemnation of himself.
The thought kept the words with me the rest of the way home…efforts…dividends.
I began to consider how it wasn’t a specific truth but rather a universal one. No matter what our circumstances, our efforts pay fantastic dividends. They are the intended or unintended results of our actions.
It is easy to think of this idea in tangible terms. For example, we know our financial efforts pay dividends. But what about our spiritual efforts? What about how we invest in our thoughts and words? Or how we treat other people?
Fantastic dividends have implications for our whole being–body, mind, and spirit–as well as our bank accounts. Regardless of the nature of our efforts, we will be their beneficiary. A sobering thought that’s both daunting and empowering.
Try this… If you were to split a piece of paper down the middle and list your life’s priorities on the right and your daily efforts on the left, would one naturally result in the other as you read across the page?
If not, you may want to rethink one or both of your columns. Modify your efforts or update your priorities.
William Ernest Henley, ended his poem Invictus with this now famous phrase, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
Whom better than us, as masters and captains, to decide what our fantastic dividends will be?
