Money Makes The World Go Round
I used to envy the people around me whenever I see them wearing pretty clothes and having nice things that I don't.. that was a few years back then. There seemed to be a 'voice' in me that was always telling me that I want to own these things too, and I ought to have them. Though they were just mere thoughts fighting out in my mind, there are important lessons to be learnt and remembered.
It is scary how consumerism culture has transformed our minds without our consious knowledge. We believe in "more is better" so strongly and readily, we don't realise ourselves sinking deeper and further reinforciong this belief everytime we succumb to our impulses. We keep wanting more, believing that 'more' contributes to our happiness and it is good for us.. but it is all short-lived. In actual fact, our beliefs are fallacious; we never really become happier even though we have more now, because we often find our hearts falling for something else that is much prettier and more attractive, and the whole cycle repeats on and on. Don't expect it to end for as long as humans live and factories churn out more products to tempt consumers and bag more money for themselves. And to fulfil these needs, we need money - and it's LOTs of money - and again, the more the better. So while people in poor countries slog hard to earn a living just to survive, people like some Singaporeans slog hard just to achieve high standards of luxuries in life - how ironic. Money was created by human beings as a MEANS to live, but it has become more like our life now.
Back then, my mind was only occupied with the thought of owning things that people have and I don't. After all the most beautiful things are those that do not belong to us. I was being irrational because those were things that I did not NEED; they were only my WANTs. Obviously I can do fine without all these things since I already had my own collection of clothes and stuff to last me for a good time. But it was just a strong yearning.. a craving which was not justified and yet so powerful that it has taken over my ability to think rationally. Because our wants will never be satisfied, we will forever be stuck in the tragic cycle of unhappiness - a sad thing that human beings have brought upon ourselves.
I'm not trying to preach about how everyone should conduct your lives, don't get me wrong. Neither am I discouraging or stopping people from working hard to earn big bucks. It is everyone's freedom to choose their goals in life and I respect that. However, I just want to point out a few things. First, it takes a strong mind for one to know how to handle it well especially when money comes too fast and easy. You may have alot - alot of money and alot of material things that your money can give you - but on the inside, you may in fact be poor.. maybe even "poorer" than people living in third world countries. These people are happy even with the smallest thing they have, while you are struggling to balance your infinite desires and your ability to achieve them; you are in a state of confusion, how can you be happy for that matter?
To be truly rich, one has to see that money isn’t the whole world and that having so much money seriously doesn't amount to anything at the end of the day. Even our late ex-president, huang jin hui said that everyone is the same at death, no matter how great or how rich you were before. You gain some, you lose some too.. it all works like a simple mathematical equation. What is the point of being rich when you don’t even realise that you are merely a slave of your own money? Yes, being rich gives you power too.. but it is just the surface; the real value of money is already lost in our urban society today, where everyone talks about practicality. It is okay to pamper ourselves once in a while with luxuries; the bottomline is to know when to take control of our own lives to not let the impulse side get the better of us, and learn to be truly contented with what we already have. In this way, regardless of our financial status, we feel “rich” from the inside; our soul is not an empty shell. No matter where we go, that feeling of fulfilment will always be with us because it is ours and ours to keep; no one can deprive us of it.
A second thing is just a gentle reminder to people who may judge a (working) person's value based on his level of income. If a person earns a lot, they seem to give him more respect and if another earns relatively lesser, they will think more lowly of that person in a way. The next time you do this again, please pause and think again - does one’s income say everything about a person? People see money as success, but isn’t there more to our narrow-minded and superficial ways of looking at people? In my belief, it is those people who earn an honest living and are not so financially well-off who eventually emerge as a true winner because they are strong-willed and lead fulfilling lives even though they do not have as much as others do. More importantly, because they are contented with their lives, they are able to see more clearly than many of us, the greater things in life besides just money.
Less is more. Simplicity is beauty. The “me” now has learnt to be appreciative and thankful for every little thing I have now - big or small. It’s all part of growing up I guess.. and I’m glad I’m different from the “me” a few years back :) Who says being easily contented is a bad thing? ;p
It is scary how consumerism culture has transformed our minds without our consious knowledge. We believe in "more is better" so strongly and readily, we don't realise ourselves sinking deeper and further reinforciong this belief everytime we succumb to our impulses. We keep wanting more, believing that 'more' contributes to our happiness and it is good for us.. but it is all short-lived. In actual fact, our beliefs are fallacious; we never really become happier even though we have more now, because we often find our hearts falling for something else that is much prettier and more attractive, and the whole cycle repeats on and on. Don't expect it to end for as long as humans live and factories churn out more products to tempt consumers and bag more money for themselves. And to fulfil these needs, we need money - and it's LOTs of money - and again, the more the better. So while people in poor countries slog hard to earn a living just to survive, people like some Singaporeans slog hard just to achieve high standards of luxuries in life - how ironic. Money was created by human beings as a MEANS to live, but it has become more like our life now.
Back then, my mind was only occupied with the thought of owning things that people have and I don't. After all the most beautiful things are those that do not belong to us. I was being irrational because those were things that I did not NEED; they were only my WANTs. Obviously I can do fine without all these things since I already had my own collection of clothes and stuff to last me for a good time. But it was just a strong yearning.. a craving which was not justified and yet so powerful that it has taken over my ability to think rationally. Because our wants will never be satisfied, we will forever be stuck in the tragic cycle of unhappiness - a sad thing that human beings have brought upon ourselves.
I'm not trying to preach about how everyone should conduct your lives, don't get me wrong. Neither am I discouraging or stopping people from working hard to earn big bucks. It is everyone's freedom to choose their goals in life and I respect that. However, I just want to point out a few things. First, it takes a strong mind for one to know how to handle it well especially when money comes too fast and easy. You may have alot - alot of money and alot of material things that your money can give you - but on the inside, you may in fact be poor.. maybe even "poorer" than people living in third world countries. These people are happy even with the smallest thing they have, while you are struggling to balance your infinite desires and your ability to achieve them; you are in a state of confusion, how can you be happy for that matter?
To be truly rich, one has to see that money isn’t the whole world and that having so much money seriously doesn't amount to anything at the end of the day. Even our late ex-president, huang jin hui said that everyone is the same at death, no matter how great or how rich you were before. You gain some, you lose some too.. it all works like a simple mathematical equation. What is the point of being rich when you don’t even realise that you are merely a slave of your own money? Yes, being rich gives you power too.. but it is just the surface; the real value of money is already lost in our urban society today, where everyone talks about practicality. It is okay to pamper ourselves once in a while with luxuries; the bottomline is to know when to take control of our own lives to not let the impulse side get the better of us, and learn to be truly contented with what we already have. In this way, regardless of our financial status, we feel “rich” from the inside; our soul is not an empty shell. No matter where we go, that feeling of fulfilment will always be with us because it is ours and ours to keep; no one can deprive us of it.
A second thing is just a gentle reminder to people who may judge a (working) person's value based on his level of income. If a person earns a lot, they seem to give him more respect and if another earns relatively lesser, they will think more lowly of that person in a way. The next time you do this again, please pause and think again - does one’s income say everything about a person? People see money as success, but isn’t there more to our narrow-minded and superficial ways of looking at people? In my belief, it is those people who earn an honest living and are not so financially well-off who eventually emerge as a true winner because they are strong-willed and lead fulfilling lives even though they do not have as much as others do. More importantly, because they are contented with their lives, they are able to see more clearly than many of us, the greater things in life besides just money.
Less is more. Simplicity is beauty. The “me” now has learnt to be appreciative and thankful for every little thing I have now - big or small. It’s all part of growing up I guess.. and I’m glad I’m different from the “me” a few years back :) Who says being easily contented is a bad thing? ;p
posted by Jshan @ 13.6.05
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