y Possessions Rule Me

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Oscar, who lived in Lilliland, was one of the richest people in the area. He seemed to own just about everything in duplicate. Oscar maintained two homes, one in the city and one in the mountains. He was constantly running between dwellings.

Oscar owned three boats, one of which was in dry dock for refurbishing.

He also owned several businesses in Lilliland, which he visited daily to check up on the sales staff and merchandise.

When frequently asked by friends to join them for a luncheon or dinner, his answer was that he was too busy keeping tabs on his possessions.

Finally, sitting at home alone one evening, he began to ask himself a question. “Do my possessions own my time, or do I own them?” Oscar then turned to his weekly schedule and the answer to his question became apparent.

He concluded that his possessions took up the majority of his time leaving little time for friends and social obligations.

Oscar asked himself how could he adjust his schedule to have the proper balance between friends, hobbies and business. His answer meant the delegation of responsibilities among his trusted employees. He would deliberately set aside a fair portion of his schedule for his friends and social activities.

Oscar realized that changing his schedule would be difficult at first because old habits were hard to change.

He also decided to sell off some of the items that required more time than they should. Two boats, rather than three, was a good example of that.

Hiring a housekeeper for each home also was a good idea. He also saved a lot of time by meeting individually with each store manager briefly, rather than inspecting every corner of his stores everyday.

After working on the schedule for six months, Oscar seemed very happy with his new life. Having quality time and putting trust in others was the answer.