It's something I never thought I'd blog about, because I always felt it was something that goes without saying. But, due to recent circumstances, I feel like I owe it to myself and someone else to write this post.
Money isn't everything.
Now this may seem like a juvenile topic to be discussing, something every amateur blogger attempts to dwell into, but, if you heard some of the ridiculous things I've been hearing recently, you'd be shocked.
It's about time people stopped thinking that their job and their ladder of success is the only hierarchy they need to climb. it's not.
People are forgetting that money was only created to make one's life easier, not to make it one's life. Jobs were only given to people that needed that extra buck to go that certain distance. It was a necessity, not a priority.
I'm not going to bother generalizing this blogpost any further. The person that needs to read this should read it before it's too late. Ever since we're born, parents, tv, magazines, school, basically everything surrounding us, is just a constant reminder that we need a secure future. Parents force us into the education system, tv and other forms of media show successful people at their jobs, and school emphasizes the importance of skills needed to be successful. All this is great. It really is. It's admirable to see someone with huge ambitions and to see them strive to achieve them. There is nothing I love more than to see someone i care about doing well.
But, what bothers me is when that's all they can think about. They breathe success. Ambitions are oozing out of their pores. The situation is so bad that it's reached a point where he closes himself off from the entire world thinking that a lonely life is the only way he'll become that great man he wants to be.
So for you, I have this much to say. I'm going to keep it simple, but I know you won't listen regardless. You might even hate me for this. You might think I'm being too harsh, or that I don't understand you. But deep down, you know the only reason you feel this resentment towards me is because I'm the only one who does understand you. No one has spoken to you this way, and I know that. But, for your own sake, listen to what I have to say.
Letting someone know they're special will not make you dependent.
Being satisfied in simple pleasures does not make you weak.
Setting ridiculously high standards and expectations for yourself is a death trap. you will never find satisfaction.
Making money is not making a difference.
Taking care of someone financially, does not mean taking care of them generally.
You have the rest of your life to be successful. Turning 26 years old does not mark the end of your life..
However independent you think you are, you need friends.
You will lose everyone that cares about you unless you change.
Just remember, your job title or your bank account won't show up to your funeral, the relationships you've maintained will. If you have any left by that time. So don't be afraid to let people know that they mean something to you, because if you dont, you'll find yourself at the top, but all alone.
good observations, i'm glad you talked about this. i have a few things to share too.
ReplyDeletefirstly, you're underestimating the power of money. the world's systems function on money. it's important for people to be focused on money. why do you think newspapers find it important to publish market data every morning? stock markets are a very significant factor in measuring how well the economy is doing. if the economy does better, the rich get richer and the poor get richer. if people make more money for themselves, they make more money for their country, and the country uses that money to build schools, hospitals, airports etc. - so in the end, not only you have a convenient life, but that poverty-stricken old man can get his life saved by getting treated at the new hospital in town which has more beds than the old down-trodden hospital.
making more money for yourself and your firm also means that you're creating more jobs. any kind of jobs. jobs for educated people, jobs for uneducated people who end up working as security guards, office boys etc. if you never had the desire to make a lot of money, you won't be able to provide such employment for others. giving someone a job means you're giving them the opportunity to foster a family. which helps maintain all the values you hold dear - love, relationships, caring for others.
thirdly, if you notice, every big, powerful organization in the world is run by someone very ambitious, someone who has the desire to make a lot of money. it is important for someone with such aspirations to make it big to spend as much time as they can on what they do and getting to their professional goal. and unfortunately, time is a scarce commodity. so they end up using most of the time they have on making their dreams a reality. in the process of doing that, relationships, friendships during the peak time of life can suffer because there isn't as much time to spend in those aspects of life. if these individuals didn't spend time on chasing their dreams, they'd be left behind and may not get where they want. it requires a lot of hard work to be really successful. it's not child's play. so it's a tradeoff. but in the end, the benefits from going in the work/money direction are more because after a certain point they get to enjoy all aspects of life, including relationships and love, and family etc. and at the same time, they've made a difference to other's lives, and society as a whole.
there's two kinds of people in the world. those who value making micro-differences. and those who value making macro-differences. the person you're referring to in your blog post is interested in making macro-differences. the world needs a balance of both these types of people. they're two schools of thought and it's essential for the world to have a mix of both for the advancement of mankind. however, most often, they don't get along, just like how capitalists and communists never get along. (however, capitalism-communism is not a good example because communism is just plain stupid and is the worst thing that could happen to a country).
but, your blog post definitely strikes out to that person, and he'll try his best to find a balance of both worlds.
i can sum up all those paragraphs for you:
ReplyDeleteexcuses.
what you're implying is that people who DON'T make money their one and only priority in life don't succeed. i can name u hundreds of people off the top of my head who don't follow this assumption.
ReplyDeleteyou're also implying that being successful in your workforce is a macro-difference. who gave you the right to decide that? you ever think that maybe by saving one life, you're making a bigger difference than by saving a collective whole.
at the end of the day, the happiest of happy people have love and companionship in their lives, not necessarily a 6 digit salary.
this blog post wasn't intended to talk about making the world a happier place, it was about making yourself happier.
and i repeat, you will not find happiness in money :)
sure, but there's a difference between succeeding in an average way, and succeeding in a big way. sure, they're happy, but they've mad macro-differences. making the life of a collective whole, and many in that collective whole is better than making the life of one person. have you ever thought that maybe that one person just has really high expectations?
ReplyDeletesure money doesn't buy you happiness, but it's a platform that gives you power to change other people's lives, the society and the economy.
you're missing my point. i'm not devaluing money here. I'm aware of its benefits and the opportunities it brings. everything you say has a valid point. But when any person neglects their family, friends or human interaction on a social level of any sort while obsessing over this does not lead a healthy life.
ReplyDeleteyou spoke about the benefits of having big ambitions and working hard to get there, but you completely ignored the part where this particular person resists closeness of any level with another person in order to attain this goal.
All I'm saying is, if you think you can find happiness and satisfaction by going through life without the strong support of people that care about you (minus your parents 'cause they have no choice- they have to care regardless of how you treat them), then that's great for you. but personally, i dont see you as that kind of a person. I'm sure that's the person you WANT to be, but by however little I know you, I can tell you with confidence that that's not who you are. Sooner or later you'll realize this and you'll set your priorities in order, or at least be able to have more than one priority( 'cause right now, your ambitions are your ONLY priority). Hopefully in time, you'll continue to keep your future as your number 1 priority but you'll begin to understand that relationships (not just romantic, i mean of all kinds) are also necessary for personal growth.
side note: If you really want to argue your point and truly think you are right, then i suggest you respond to the personal characteristics I've pointed out vaguely in my original blogpost.
ReplyDeletefor example: some of the things you say to me..
1)I need a lonely life if i want to succeed
2) i want to be everything i want to be by the time I'm 26
3) I need to do better than my dad.
and this is just to say the least, because trust me, there's a lot more where that came from. Your ambitions to succeed isn't what troubles me, (in fact I'm so proud to meet someone who has such great thoughts about his future and is willing to work his ass off to get there) it's your shunning of everyone around you, your competitiveness with EVERYONE (including people that aren't even your competition) and your personal battle between what you desire and what you WANT to desire that troubles me.
You remind me constantly how this is the prime of your life and this is the time to focus on your future and not the time to waste time in relationships etcetc YET you "waste" hours and hours talking to a certain female every day and seem to enjoy it. If this is the prime age to focus on your future, why have you only gone to 5 uni classes in the last term? Why are you a year behind? Why do u refuse to work as hard at school as you do at work? Isn't education a stepping stone towards a successful future that you speak so highly about?
I'm not saying any of these things are bad and you should change them. I'm definitely not saying you should stop talking to this female or that you're a bad person because you skip classes. I'm simply pointing out the conflicting fronts of what you preach about versus what you actually do.
Instead of informing me about the benefits of money and how it makes the world go round and how ambitions are great for a person, please help me understand how this very apparent inner conflict isn't noticeable to you.