An idle mind is a terrible thing with no distractions the strangest things come to mind. Like
for example money. Is it really as important as the majority of people would have you
think? Should the desire to have more money or a bigger car be the sole purpose of your
life?
Recently while walking somewhere I started to think about that and the answer I came up
with was no it isn’t. What really makes life fun and worth living is the people that you
spend it with and the experiences that you have over the course of your lifetime. For
anyone that doubts me on this I have a simple question to ask you, If all you had was
money, no friends and only had conversations with work colleagues at breaks and
lunches? Would you honestly be happy? Take the reverse you have very little money but a
lot of friends and some great experiences to talk about? Which would you rather be?
Someone who has lived life and ended up with great friends and memories or an old miser
with nothing but your money. I know which I’d rather be.
I think there is a point in everyone’s life where they realise what path they would have
prefered to have taken. In the “Road not Taken” Robert Frost wrote about meeting a
crossroads in a wood. One path was well traveled and the other less so and somewhat
overgrown. The poem ends with the lines
“I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
The relevancy of these lines to what was said above is that at some point in your life you
will meet a “crossroads”. Instead of taking the well traveled path. Spare a second thought
as to where the less traveled one may lead you, because depending on your age and life
stage you may have been down the well traveled one already.
November 28th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
It won’t let me comment under the “Road less travelled” bit so im gonna have my lil say here…
Without money, you can do all the things you want to do. I know i want to travel EVERYWHERE i can. I mean, it’s all well and good saying i love all my friends and family here (which i do) but it doesn’t mean i don’t want to get the fuck outta here.
Plus getting a job is a way of life. Imagine always havin to scrap pennies to eat/pay bills…you’re not exactly going to be off celebrating wit christmas day with your friends.
And also (and i know that im going to sound like a bore saying this) but there’s something good about wanting to make more of yourself. Success. I think you can gain a lot of inner happiness from being successful in your work, being important enough that they DO pay you well in order to keep you, that you’re part of something big. Work is an integral part of our lives and it always will be…i want to be successful and i want to be paid for being successful. Money can be your trophy as can be your car, house, thai wife you buy with it
Point is, yes it’s a nice idea that money isn’t very important. But do you really want to live on the dole and go out all the time while your friends move on? Nah. That isn’t living life to the full either.
It’s all about finding a balance, and not letting either one consume you. Defining what you want about life, and getting it…
I got carried away there, oops! haha
November 28th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
That response is nearly longer than the post
I never meant that everyone should sign on or that we should revert to communism. Just that money shouldn’t become the sole focus of your life. I completely agree that having money and leaving are a part of life and a pretty important part.
All I tried to convey was that no one should dedicate their life to just making money :p
November 28th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
That was my conclusion too