Many of us associate wealth with money, but in reality wealth is much more complex than just being full of money. Wealth is happiness, security, knowledge, time, growth, love, freedom, and yes, it is also money, but the problem is that we spend so much time only looking for money thinking that this will get us everything we want.
The vast majority of us grew up thinking that success and wealth were determined by how much money we accumulated. From the cartoons we saw on TV that found gold chests in some lost ship, to the gifts we received at Christmas, we measured everything in material value. Since we were kids we used to associate love with gifts, so much so, that if they gave us something we did not like, that would upset us.
What did Santa Claus said when he entered the fireplace to leave the gifts? "This kid has been good this year, so that's why he has many gifts!", And with that excuse our own parents "blackmail" us to behave in a proper way, "behave yourself, or Santa Claus will not bring you gifts" - typical. These are everyday situations that seem to be harmless, but in reality these are the things that shape us the most and define how we perceive happiness and success.
As soon as we stop chasing money as the main goal of our lives, we will realize how rich we already are. What would happen if we could measure in numbers our health, happiness, time, love and knowledge, just as measure money in a bank? What would happen if we had an artifact that told us exactly how much health we have saved, or how much time we have left to spend, or perhaps, how much love do we need to be considered successful in our society? - Life would be very different.
You have to understand the purpose of money to really stop depending on it so much. It was created to facilitate the exchange of goods and services between different entities, that's all. If today there would be no money, I am sure that our purpose in life would not be to accumulate a lot of trinkets in a warehouse to show how "rich" we are, how we do it with money in a bank.
Okay, I perfectly understand the importance of saving and planning for the future, this is necessary if we want to have good and responsible lives. However, I do believe that many people have a misconception of the true value of the important things in life. We must prioritize the basic instincts of the human being over money: eat, sleep, make friends, fall in love, laugh, relax, learn, create, work and dream. I am sure we will find enough time to earn money, save and buy the things we most want and need, but we must find a balance where we do not waste the best part of our life trying to become the next Bill Gates or Carlos Slim, although we need to have in mind that being ambitious is healthy and can bring the best on us. But we must maintain a proper balance in every important area of our lives, otherwise we will eventually get burnout and collapse.
The beauty of wealth is that it is much more than just money, and for each of us it can be something different because we all have our own dreams and aspirations. If we all look for money, there will never be enough for everyone; there will always be poor people who do not have enough to eat and there will be millionaires who will not reach their entire lives to spend even a tenth of the money they have in the bank. But if we perceive wealth as much more than money, there would be enough for all human beings in this world, because for each of us, wealth would be different.
Maybe in the future, things like knowledge could actually be measured just like today we measure how many files a hard drive actually has. Would you prefer to be friends/partners with a person rich with money or rich with knowledge and experiences?
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