Hitting the bottom

It was a beautiful late spring day. Birds were chirping and a lawn mower’s engine was purring off in the distance. A small Cessna flew low over the house and a ski boat was pulling a single skier past the giant lakeside home. But the owner of 234 Royal Oaks Lane heard none of it.

His uncanny ability to master the value of money had built the mansion and the pool. His lack of ability to master the value of time had landed him in the bottom of it.

He lay on the bottom, face down, drowning. The lack of oxygen was beginning to shut down his brain.  He was experiencing a near-death experience. And it wasn’t pretty.

There was no peace to be found at the bottom of the pool.

He had grown up in a dogmatic household as a child. There was no gray — only black and white.  That absolute certainty about the universe had led him into the financial industry. His ruthlessness had quickly allowed him to rise to the top.  It would be wrong to say he didn’t care about anything or anyone.  He cared about his bonus. Very much so, actually.  Unlike people, numbers didn’t lie.

As the world went on around him, his life flashed before him.  And it wasn’t pretty. There was no white light. No family members there to greet him. No peace.

He had built his business and was now in the process of tearing it down. He didn’t give a damn about his employees. In fact, he had been on the phone with his board discussing the next round of RIF. (Reduction of Force) when the years of eating poorly caught up to him.  First there was a pain in his chest. Next the phone went into the pool. And he was right after it.

All the money in the world wouldn’t save him today. His wife had told him when she left, “Your company won’t hold your hand when you die.” Today would be the day he’d discover how right she was.

The last bubbles of breath floated to the surface and popped.

The news would mourn the loss of a great business leader.  The people who knew him would shrug their shoulders and move on with their lives.  Being a success relies on more than just the bottom line.  It’s a hard fact he discovered on the bottom of his pool.