"I blew it" (Sam Walton)

I of all people have spent my days knocking Walmart for various reasons. Much of them concerning treatment of workers. I have also been amazed by a lot of things that the organization and it's founder have accomplished. Wither you agree with the company's philosophy or not you must give Walmart credit when it comes to it's overall strategy. I have recently been studying it's founder Sam Walton for a project related to my HR masters degree. I have always been impressed by Sam. If you were to talk to past employees while Sam was alive you would hear a massive amount of respect and compliments. The company was different and it's impact was great on the families in which worked for Walmart. I could actually recount times when I worked for Walmart of how it "use to be".

What I really wanted to focus on was Sam Walton. A master business man that helped develop a HUGE retail business. The one thing Sam sacrificed to develop Walmart was his time with family. On his death bed Sam uttered "I blew it". We all know that he didn't blow the company or his finances. It was his family. Sam barely knew his youngest son and many reports say that his wife stay with him out of obligation. Nearing the end of his life Sam attempted to regain some of that lost time from some accounts. In the end he obviously realized that those precious moments had slipped away.

We must always understand the importance of family in our lives. On death beds we rarely hear people saddened by their businesses, money they built up, cars they didn't drive. It is regret of not serving God more and spending more time with family. I am pretty certain that my pockets won't be loaded when I finally die. I am certain though that my heart will be full with the understanding I did the best I could with the time I had. My kids might fault me later in life for some things but they will never fault me for putting family last.