money vs happiness: who will win?
4.23.2010
It's been a while since I have written anything on here, though I've been stockpiling topics that I want to write about. I just never seem to get around to it...
Money. It's what makes the world go round and is often the difference between life and death. I hate money. Not just because I am terrible with it (I'm an impulsive buyer) but because of all the problems and rifts it creates in everyone's lives. I almost wish we could go back to a bartering system, although if that were the case I would likely starve. This leads me to the fact one of the hardest concepts for me to grasp is employment. Now, now, hear me out. I understand that people have and hone specific skills, and in turn use those skills to provide for themselves and their families. This is not the part of the concept I have a rough time with. The part I can't get past is that the VAST majority of people in general aren't happy with their jobs. This comes down to:
Trading HOURS of your LIFE for MONEY.
That's what I have a hard time with. Every second you spend on something is a second you can't get back. Why would you spend millions of those priceless seconds on a job you dislike? But someone has to do these jobs, don't they? No. There's no need for a corporate CEO or a burger-flipper at a fast food chain. There's a significant rift between what we need and what we are told to want. What good is all of this doing us? None whatsoever. People survived just fine making their own bread and hoeing their own fields. Sometimes I get so tired of watching this endless set of problems we all create for ourselves, falling into potholes of greed and gluttony and lust. I know that sounds preachy, and I really don't like to judge, but it's true. It's what the pressures of our society have led us to. I makes me want to go all Thoreau.
So basically, it comes down to this for me - would I be willing to do this job for free? Do I enjoy what I am doing and respect the implications it has on the rest of my fellow man? If this is the case, then one is typically a happy (and usually financially downtrodden) person. If the answer is a 'kinda' or a resounding 'no', there is trouble. I'm so often sad for the society I live in and how selfish (I will talk more about this concept in another, later post) we have become. Now, there are two kinds of selfish - one is just to the degree of being concerned for one's own needs and providing that which is needed. The second is putting oneself before EVERYONE else, no matter the concern. They are very different levels. There is also, obviously, gray area, since there is in nearly every matter, ever.
I don't want you to think that I'm looking down my nose at anyone. I am also a culprit a good portion of the time. But I am to a point in my life where I may be extremely poor, but I thoroughly enjoy all of my jobs, and all the class I take at the University are only because they interest me completely. I am much more sated by having spent my time on endeavors that I personally enjoy, since it is MY life. Why would I want to give up my precious time to the corporate gods, when it could be used to bring happiness into other people's lives? If that's a byproduct of my job (which it is), I feel like I've made a difference, and that puts my soul at ease. And I enjoy being content. It's a state that many have thought and dreamt about, yet never achieved.
Hopefully you'll take some time to evaluate your life, and consider creating a happier place for yourself with the time you're given.
Time is a gift, and we should never waste it on anything we don't want or need to be doing.
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." -James Dean
"Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive." -Elbert Hubbard
[photo credit: http://donmillereducation.com/journal/2010/12/22/wednesday-notes-money-is-time/time-is-money/]
Money. It's what makes the world go round and is often the difference between life and death. I hate money. Not just because I am terrible with it (I'm an impulsive buyer) but because of all the problems and rifts it creates in everyone's lives. I almost wish we could go back to a bartering system, although if that were the case I would likely starve. This leads me to the fact one of the hardest concepts for me to grasp is employment. Now, now, hear me out. I understand that people have and hone specific skills, and in turn use those skills to provide for themselves and their families. This is not the part of the concept I have a rough time with. The part I can't get past is that the VAST majority of people in general aren't happy with their jobs. This comes down to:Trading HOURS of your LIFE for MONEY.
That's what I have a hard time with. Every second you spend on something is a second you can't get back. Why would you spend millions of those priceless seconds on a job you dislike? But someone has to do these jobs, don't they? No. There's no need for a corporate CEO or a burger-flipper at a fast food chain. There's a significant rift between what we need and what we are told to want. What good is all of this doing us? None whatsoever. People survived just fine making their own bread and hoeing their own fields. Sometimes I get so tired of watching this endless set of problems we all create for ourselves, falling into potholes of greed and gluttony and lust. I know that sounds preachy, and I really don't like to judge, but it's true. It's what the pressures of our society have led us to. I makes me want to go all Thoreau.
So basically, it comes down to this for me - would I be willing to do this job for free? Do I enjoy what I am doing and respect the implications it has on the rest of my fellow man? If this is the case, then one is typically a happy (and usually financially downtrodden) person. If the answer is a 'kinda' or a resounding 'no', there is trouble. I'm so often sad for the society I live in and how selfish (I will talk more about this concept in another, later post) we have become. Now, there are two kinds of selfish - one is just to the degree of being concerned for one's own needs and providing that which is needed. The second is putting oneself before EVERYONE else, no matter the concern. They are very different levels. There is also, obviously, gray area, since there is in nearly every matter, ever.
I don't want you to think that I'm looking down my nose at anyone. I am also a culprit a good portion of the time. But I am to a point in my life where I may be extremely poor, but I thoroughly enjoy all of my jobs, and all the class I take at the University are only because they interest me completely. I am much more sated by having spent my time on endeavors that I personally enjoy, since it is MY life. Why would I want to give up my precious time to the corporate gods, when it could be used to bring happiness into other people's lives? If that's a byproduct of my job (which it is), I feel like I've made a difference, and that puts my soul at ease. And I enjoy being content. It's a state that many have thought and dreamt about, yet never achieved.
Hopefully you'll take some time to evaluate your life, and consider creating a happier place for yourself with the time you're given.
Time is a gift, and we should never waste it on anything we don't want or need to be doing.
"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." -James Dean
"Do not take life too seriously; you will never get out of it alive." -Elbert Hubbard
[photo credit: http://donmillereducation.com/journal/2010/12/22/wednesday-notes-money-is-time/time-is-money/]
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