Many years ago, two young businessmen became next-door neighbors. Each man inherited a small house with a significant plot of land.
The first businessman was intent on ascending the Corporate Ladder and quickly became very successful. After a few years, he hired a squadron of construction workers to build an impressive and expansive addition to his previously humble abode. After all, a man of his status needed a mansion.
The second businessman had a young family, and he prioritized making his backyard a Refuge for Recreation and a Paradise for Play. After work, he could always be found throwing a baseball with his son, giving his daughter Horsey Rides, or simply relaxing in the hammock that rested peacefully between the two oak trees in the eastern corner of the property.
Over time, the first businessman recognized that he just didn’t have time to maintain his yard. At first, he poured concrete over a large portion of the dead grass, but weeds still somehow sprouted through the cracks in the cement. “There’s a pill for that!” he joked as he doused the weeds with pharmaceutical-grade weedkiller, and this seemed to work for a while. However, the untrimmed hedges became overrun by various parasitic pests while a militia of noxious weeds overwhelmed the remaining vegetation. Thankfully, he had many clients, and he simply hired some Interventional Weedwhackers to stent the bushes and consulted a group of BioHackers to navigate some atherosclerotic infestations. Eventually, he replaced the entire yard with artificial turf and “planted” some fake flowers in place of the wilted roses. His friend said that this was “more sustainable for longevity” and, since he prioritized efficiency, he felt he was making the best decisions for long-term productivity. To his credit, he worked hard at his job, although he often felt “tired but wired” at the end of each day and overwhelmed by the constant pressure of keeping up with the latest trends and innovations.
The second businessman became a gardener, and he planted a diverse array of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and trees. He painstakingly manicured each and every shrub, turning his backyard into a cornucopia of awe and wonder. It’s no surprise that every one of his many friends took Family Pictures in his backyard, and over time, his property became known as Everyday Eden. It was a place where even the mundane could turn into magic. There was love. There was life. There was beauty.
It was hard work maintaining the majesty of Everyday Eden, and the second businessman was often weary. However, he finished each day well-spent, grateful for the gift of work, and woke up each morning eager to do it all over again.
Although the two businessmen were neighbors, they rarely interacted. But when the first businessman observed the laborious efforts required to maintain the magnificence of Everyday Eden, he felt compelled to offer his neighbor some suggestions for maximizing efficiency.
“Neighbor! I’ve got a few shortcuts that could make your life WAAAY easier! I’ve got an injectable called “InnoV8” that instantly makes flowers blossom. There’s a peptide called “Panacea” that will give you boundless energy! And you could easily outsource a lot of the hedge-trimming to my assistant Grok! What do you think? We could even work together!”
The second businessman smiled. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m content. The joy is in the journey. Although Everyday Eden is beautiful, the real beauty is in the process.” And he returned to pruning some bushes.
Rankled and perplexed, the first businessman cut off all further communication with his bizarre neighbor. Those weird statements sounded like they were from an archaic fantasy story or romance novel, and no one that he knew had read any books for years. Real businessmen didn’t read books anymore; there was no need.
Time passed. Curiously, neither businessman ended up retiring; they both kept working well into their 80s. However, their reasons for continuing to work were vastly different. The first businessman felt like he “just needed a little bit more money” to be financially secure. And the second businessman said, with a twinkle in his eye, that, “I still do the same things I’ve always done…I’m just slower and it hurts more afterwards. But the joy remains.”
One day, the second businessman felt unusually tired after a long day’s work in the garden. He trudged over to the old hammock and smiled, thanking God for another day’s work. And then he never woke up; he finished the day well-spent for the final time.
The next week, hundreds of friends and family gathered at Everyday Eden to celebrate his life…a life well-spent. And the Memorial Service was, indeed, magical.
And the first businessman peered through the window of his mansion and saw what was happening.
“Oh that’s really sad,” thought the businessman. But then he thought about the potential value of Everyday Eden and began calculating the potential returns on a financial investment in his deceased neighbor’s property. He felt somewhat conflicted about his inclinations, however, and he couldn’t sleep that night.
“There’s a pill for that!” he said, and doubled up on several of his sleep medications. And then he never woke up.
Two businessmen. Two lives spent.
It would be accurate to say they lived next door to one another. But it would also be accurate to say that one lived his life in Eden, and one lived many, many miles East of Paradise.
