down to earth

Last Sunday, I was taking Anuraag (my son) to the soccer game near my house. This is an indoor soccer field in Canton, MI.In the parking lot, 2 cars away from my car (Jaguar), I see a Lincoln Zephyr (smaller, less expensive car than Jag) and middle aged dad with his son coming out to the soccer game.
He resembled our (Ford Motor Company) chairman Bill Ford Jr.- great-grandson of Henry Ford. The chairman who represents Ford Family (owns 40% of FMC) and the company has presence in 23 countries.
He was going to same soccer field as Anu. I introduced myself and he asked me which organization do I work for. He enquired about the soccer score and Anu briefly and left to watch his son's game.
The following day (Jan 21st), he had to make big announcements like plant closings etc. which was covered in the media all over the world. The incident has broken lot of myths about people and their lifestyles .. The incident reinforced hard to believe facts like ..
> Son's soccer game is more important than anything else

> Rich people do not necessarily drive expensive cars nor employ chauffeurs, while employees are parking Jaguars next to owners of the company

> Weekend before major media presentations affecting 30,000 families is like any other weekend

> Rich people do not necessarily live and commute in rich neighborhoods (Canton, Ann Arbor are mediocre communities in MI)

> Successful people take time to be acknowledge and talk even in a uncomfortable setting

> and many more ..

Down to earth living and taking time to appreciate all aspects of life is key. You can deduce & learn a lot more from this incident.Sometimes we strive so much for things that are not necessarily important like money, social status, etc. The guy who has everything in life is spending time understanding soccer game plans for his son.

The key is to prioritize and control what is driving your life.
Please do not forward the email as it is a personal experience.