I have a little story.
So don't get caught up in thinking the scholarships, the houses, the cars, the boats, the motorcycles or anything else you can possess is all that important. Your happiness and the happiness of those around you is a far greater measure of who you are than what you own. And here's another thing.......you're not going to die wishing you'd have spent more time at the office, or with your nose in a calculus book. One needs to find a balance.
Find your balance, and let everyone else worry about theirs. Ted Bundy graduated from UW Law School and Sam Walton didn't have a college degree. So go figure.
So sorry to hear about your bro.
I agree whole heartedly about your theory on life. I am remodeling a house and selling my current house, spending all my weekends as a slave to those things, and it is fun in some ways. But every now and then I think what's the point? I am not spending enough time with my kids, so I just drop what I am doing and go do something with them. I actually caught a fish last week, and I was like, "Man, I really miss that."
You'll never look at your photo album and say, "Wow look at how good my yard looked, I must have just weedeated it."
Obsession with stuff will kill you.