Jim Babcock was a Construction Superintendent for a Tampa Bay, FL construction company. Three years ago, the firm fell onto challenging times and Jim went a stretch of 10 weeks working but not receiving a paycheck. The Tampa Bay Online article notes that Jim left that company and spiraled into homelessness.  At 55 years old, he lived for a few months in the Salvation Army shelter. He was eventually hired as staff by the Salvation Army (Construction Supers tend to be competent folks) and is pictured below helping a current shelter resident.

“I’ve seen clients as young as 18 and as old as 80,” Babcock said. “It (homelessness) can be very shocking. A lot of people aren’t prepared for that eventuality – that money has run out, jobs are dried up. That would be a shock for most people.”

Indeed it would. As you contemplate this Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas season, take some time to remember the tenuous nature of our lives and our jobs. The knowledge that everything can (and most things eventually will) be taken away helps to hold onto to them lightly. A certain detachment lets us truly live in the present. Worry about the past or the future only wastes our time. Prepare…but live with joy.