Well, hello, my friends, and welcome to the Live Inspired podcast Monday Morning Moments with John

O'Leary. We record these so you and I can begin our days and

our weeks in awe and on fire with a burst of inspiration. I love the quote that goes like this.

If you don't change your direction, you may end up exactly where you are heading. So speaking of that, I got a question for you. What matters most to you?

I'm going to give you a moment on your way to school, the way to the office as you work out in the

gym or wherever you're taking this podcast from today to hear the question one more time.

What truly matters most to you? Well, as we race through life,

it's rare we pause long enough to honestly consider this question. A single conversation with a man

that I had previously never met before and would never meet again challenged me to not only ask

the question, but attempt to live out the answer.

Let me tell you more about it.

Years ago, while working as a part-time chaplain at a hospital, I visited with an elderly

gentleman suffering with congestive heart failure.

As I sat at his bedside, we chatted about baseball.

We talked about his failing health, and we also talked a bit about how he felt looking back over his life.

I guess seeing the youthful fresh in my face, he thought perhaps he could impart a little bit of advice into my life.

So I remember what he said to me was this. John,

talk to me a few years ago, and I'd tell you about all that I accomplished in life.

I'd tell you about the business that I built, the success that I'd celebrated, the effort required,

and the payoff received. The gentleman then paused and he coughed. His breathing was

labored, and the simple act of speaking required a Herculeanian effort. Straining, he continued sharing.

But along the way, I also lost some things in the pursuit of that success. I put it in so many hours that I barely

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