+JMJ+
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas!
The celebrations continue all the way until the Feast of Candlemas on February 2nd, so keep the yuletide fires burning strong in your heart …
And carry the joy of Christmas all the way through.
Live Liturgically because life is better that way.
Why?
Well, it’s a good thing to do, for starters, and …
Sometimes it helps when it feels like life is biting down on you pretty hard.
My six-year-old son, for example, has been in the hospital with a nasty case of periorbital cellulitis.
It was bad …
His left eye was completely swollen shut and half his face ballooned up like, well … like a small balloon.
Fortunately, my wife and I are blessed enough to have an amazing family that’s been helping out.
Still, that hasn’t made it much easier going back and forth to the hospital and spending long hours in a small room.
One of the things that helps is reading, and I’ve been passing some of the down-time there with my copy of “The Consolation of Philosophy.”
Have you ever heard of it?
It was by this fella named Boethius, a powerful Roman political dude, in the early 6th Century …
He wrote this masterpiece while he was imprisoned and waiting to be executed for treason. (That’s not how I would have spent my time on death row, but hey …)
The work is considered to be one of the most influential books in the history of Western Civilization, which is why I wanted to give it a shot, and it turns out …
It’s pretty good.
Essentially, it’s about Boethius having this “conversation” with “a female personification of philosophy,” as Wikipedia would put it.
In these talks, Boethius is going on and on about all his problems, and why his life is like a big pile of garbage instead of a box of chocolates, and Lady Philosophy “consoles” him, hence the title. (I only realized that about a quarter of the way through …)
There’s a lot that jumps out at me, and I want to write about all of it, but for now …
Here’s a nugget for all the Marketing Traders out there running your own businesses.
It’s about an undeniable aspect of human nature when it comes to money and fortune.
Lady Philosophy says:
“Even if God answered prayers with gold,
heaped honors on those asking,
still this gain would seem nothing.”
She’s talking about the attachment we have to money and how enough never seems to be enough.
Riches, she says, are fleeting and never truly belong to you, so don’t make them the source of your joy.
Look at the true Good instead for your happiness
Look to the eternal, ultimate source of all goodness to lift your heart.
Look to God.
I know, this doesn’t sound like marketing advice, but think about it …
How often are we tempted to chase more profits for the simple “joy” of “having more”?
I can’t answer that one for you, only you can.
Is there a line?
Hey, we all need money, there’s no doubt about that, but is it an end for you or a means to an end?
And what is that final end we’re chasing after?
Is it more money?
Is it more possessions?
Is it about keeping up with the Joneses?
I think we need to be honest with ourselves as we grow our businesses.
Yes, the world needs more faithful Catholic business owners out there who are bringing the light of Christ into the marketplace …
Whether it’s the way we treat our employees, the way we deal with our clients, or even for the simple fact that we’re putting bread on the table for our families.
That’s why it’s important to keep this philosophy in mind with your marketing, and your sales, and even in your management systems.
It’s like a “holistic approach” to your business, but not in some new-agey kind of way with crystals and yoga.
It’s about being authentically Catholic and keeping our eyes on the prize, even during hardships.
Stay holy my friend and God bless.
Vic
The Marketing Trad
P.S. If you’re looking to book a consultation, no sweat. Send me an email at [email protected]. I am booking appointments, but only for those readers who get on the waiting list.
P.P.S. Please keep my son in your prayers. If things work out, I’m guessing he could be home by the weekend – God willing.