David Brooks at the New York Times asked a tough question this week in his column:

Two things happened to Sandra Bullock this month. First, she won an Academy Award for best actress. Then came the news reports claiming that her husband is an adulterous jerk. So the philosophic question of the day is: Would you take that as a deal? Would you exchange a tremendous professional triumph for a severe personal blow?

Not a tough question in the sense that I’m really mulling if that’s a good deal. More tough in the sense that it’s painful to even read.
But aren’t there plenty of people who’ve made a similar deal with the devil? Maybe not as publically, but they’ve let their lives get totally out of balance, neglecting spouse, children, family, friends, health, hobbies to get ahead at work.  They achieve in one area but at the cost of failing in others.
Brooks goes on to talk about the power of interpersonal relationships in determining our happiness. Not money. Relationships.

… most of us pay attention to the wrong things. Most people vastly overestimate the extent to which more money would improve our lives. Most schools and colleges spend too much time preparing students for careers and not enough preparing them to make social decisions.

What can you do about that? Catherine at the Flamingo Room has some ideas, starting with inviting some friends over for a cheap potluck dinner. Check it out.
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