I have a little story.

My brother and I were raised in the same house, by the same parents, using the same techniques. My old man would not have you sitting around......ever. Standing with your hands in your pockets would get you rapped on the skull. There was always concrete to pour, sheetrock to hang, tape, mud and sand, a deck to build, a shed to re-roof.........he never ran out of projects.

We weren't given much academic guidance, you were just exepcted to get A's.......B's were frowned upon, and a C would get your ass grounded.

My brother was the classic overachiever like my old man. Straight A's through high school, full ride scholarship at UW, AT&T Bell Labs scholarship to MIT, worked on two different teams whose leaders were awarded the Nobel Prize in physics, holds patents for laser traps, etc. I, on the other hand, wasn't.

I picked a different path for myself. Being out in the woods, or on the river is far more important to me than pouring that retaining wall. I'll grab the rod/reel when I probably should grab the weedeater. And I've been known to completely waste a day because I f'n feel like it.

My brother was killed in a motorcycle accident a couple weeks ago. I'd bet my life that he'd give up all the hard work and accomplishments that came from it for another day with his daughters.

So don't get caught up in thinking the scholarships, the houses, the cars, the boats, the motorcycles or anything else you can possess is all that important. Your happiness and the happiness of those around you is a far greater measure of who you are than what you own. And here's another thing.......you're not going to die wishing you'd have spent more time at the office, or with your nose in a calculus book. One needs to find a balance.

Find your balance, and let everyone else worry about theirs. Ted Bundy graduated from UW Law School and Sam Walton didn't have a college degree. So go figure.