The Bottom Line

The Bottom Line

• Bottom Line – the most important part of something: the most important thing to consider,the final result or outcome, a company’s profits or losses.  The line at the bottom of a financial report that shows the net profit or loss; financial considerations (as cost or profit or loss), what is left after all is said and done.
• Bottom Line (business definition)-  The bottom line represents the number of sales dollars remaining, after all, operating expenses, interest, taxes and preferred stock dividends (but not common stock dividends) have been deducted from a company’s total revenue.

I wonder how many of you like me have found ourselves at the end of a thing and wondering secretly, internally, questioning ourselves with this thought “What’s the bottom line?” Now, I am sure, most assured that the question didn’t come out quite as I noted but I guarantee that this is how you were feeling if you decided to be remotely reflective.  We take our precious time and devote it to so many things daily. We give of ourselves liberally to jobs, occupations, volunteerism, duties (unassigned), friendships, love relationships, sexual exploits, abusive relationships, marriages (good & bad), long-term relationships, vocation’s, vacations, educations, continued educations, religions, religious vocations, commitments, and so much more.  We make extreme commitments in life which we typically don’t even consider. We walk into partnerships with persons whom we never truly get to know. We open our lives to individuals who are hardly worthy of us.  We spend our precious time on things & projects that may not be deserving, we yield more and more of ourselves to relationships in which we never see any return, we give, and we give, and we give, and we give.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving either. Giving is one of my strong suits for sure. There is a true blessing to the giving of your time, talents, and treasures in an effort to bless others. The rewards are never to be chased or looked for; they come by virtue of the selfless acts in motion.  The problem is identified when “whatever” is all said and done and we find that all was a loss and what we sowed renders absolutely no profit, and I mean none what so ever.  It really sucks when you realize that what you have devoted yourself to renders itself profitless.

The “Bottom Line”, the bottom line is just that. It is the outcome, the final result, the final observance and reality of the effort and resources that have been put into something and the actual proving of the waste and leftovers that you can see with the tangible eye.  The truth becomes the truth. I can imagine that the financial aspect of this rendering can be most painstaking for those who invest money and resources into businesses and people, hoping to make a profit for themselves. No one would wants to take everything that they had, only to invest it into a business or program that yields nothing.  That is stressful, painful, and most wasteful.

When the terminology dropped into my spirit, it caused me to make this relative to my current life situations and that’s when the light-bulb came on for me.  I immediately questioned myself about a few things that I have been dealing with in my personal life. I thought… “ at the end of it all April, What did you gain? Did you profit anything for the energy that you placed into that situation or friendship? What’s the most important thing left with me after I devoted myself, my life to this or that?  This left me feeling speechless. I had to admit to myself that I am not counting the costs to what I devote my body, my time, treasures, and gifts too.

When you consider the “bottom line” of anything, you are looking at how much you are using to make something happen, the maintenance of it, and what was the final gain from the investments you made towards it all. I questioned myself as I began writing because I truly don’t think that every experience will have the same bottom line. It can’t because you don’t use the same amount of resources and efforts to everything that you invest in.  I can, however, see the importance of this evaluation process as we navigate through our lives.  What a waste of time, effort, and deletion of personal energy from oneself when engaging in life situations and relationships and having not counted the cost. I give myself to a person, mind body and spirit, and at the end of the relationship…nothing. I make personal investments towards my future by pursuing certain levels of education, I take jobs that are seemingly great yet they drain me dry emotionally and physically, I participate in extra-curricular activities and volunteer for non-profits/companies and they yield no level of peace nor satisfaction for my soul.  I again am not saying that everything that we do will give us back 100% peace, joy, satisfaction, pleasure, a sense of completion, and so forth. Yet I am saying, when you do things that are to profit you and never see the return, it may be time to start asking the “hard” questions.  That’s what businesses have to do when they began to take inventory of their wins and losses.   They look at their net income (the companies total earnings or profits, income minus cost of goods, sold, expenses, and taxes), a company’s income after all expenses have been deducted from all earnings …It is the last line on the balance sheet showing profit or loss.  It’s the final result or income.

So, what’s the total profit or loss from the situations that you have given yourself over to? You have made some unspoken agreements with your life and haven’t fully acknowledged the costs that you would have to endure or bear. Some of these costs have put you in a place of disadvantage.  Some of these costs left you in debt financially and or emotionally. Some of these cost left you lonely, bitter, fearful, hurt, angry, wishing that you had never made the decision that ultimately brought you there.  The investments that you make when you decide to merge your world with that of others for the expectation of a greater good should be examined more closely. Not necessarily for error, for error is impossible to avoid. The examination should rather be your internal guide and protection from some of the unnecessary pain, pitfalls, agony, frustration, second guessing, misplacement, do-overs, losses, setbacks, aborts of promised gains, and the birth of unwanted fruit.  I have seen in the lives of others and definitely my own, where we have endured a hard road that we didn’t necessarily have travel. Some of our greatest pains were self-induced.  Does that mean that there is no recovery in these trials or defeats? No, there is always a window of recovery until death does you part with this world.  Yet, why subject yourself to recovery (the regaining of or possibility of regaining something lost or taken away).  Why would you align yourself to, join forces with, team up with, or rather come into agreement with anything, person, or situation in which you inevitably know will cause for you to lose those things that are most valuable to you. Business is a risk and you will take leaps and jumps for an anticipated greater gain with no true foreknowledge of what the future will hold. Yet with our precious lives, we will give forge our gifts, promises, desires, and acquisitions with those who have not remotely shown or proven that they have our best interests at heart….if any at all. The bottom line here is to ensure that we protect the most valuable investment that we will always have to bring to the table of our lives when making any decisions and agreements.  This most treasured yet devalued asset/ investment is “you”.  You are valuable, you are important, you are the most important portion of anything that you are a part of.  Make sure that at the end of it all you are salvageable. Make sure that you always secure your bottom line.  Until the next time, keep canvassing!