Love vs Money

Money may not be the answer to all problems but it does make life a bit easier. Knowing that you don’t have to choose between feeding your kids or yourself, you aren’t one paycheque from being homeless and your car won’t be repossessed, has to make you feel a little happy. But beyond that, there are completely miserable and bitter wealthy people. Many truly believe (even if it’s subconscious) that the diamond ring will make them happy, that luxury goods will make them happy, the big house will make them happy. It doesn’t.

The problem is that people don’t seem to realize that no amount of money or “things” will ever bring any kind of real “life satisfaction”. It will bring some comfort, luxury and ease of living (maybe), but nothing more. Not even if money is simply considered a form of security, because they are tons of financially secure miserable people.

While arrogance or lack thereof is all about character and not how much you have in your pocket, money and/or the stuff, anything from a 2-carat diamond ring to placate the wife at home to the women at the strip club that you buy with that money, does exacerbate the problem. He who has the gold, makes the rules. Sometimes the money maker is not arrogant, the people (family members, friends) around the money maker, using his/her money are arrogant.

Then people crave something more, something priceless that money can’t buy. Like love. But unfortunately, once they find love, they forget why they sought love in the first place; because money and everything it could buy, bought them no happiness. So they look for money to complement the love, which is reasonable to the point it fulfils one’s basic needs, not numbs one to reality and brings one back into the situation where one was willing to swap money for love.

Do not seek to be loved at any price, because love has no price.

— Paulo Coelho

“A genuine, affectionate smile is very important in our day-to-day lives.” ― His Holiness The Dalai Lama XIV
“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.” ― His Holiness The Dalai Lama XIV

“I believe the twenty-first century can become the most important century of human history. I think a new reality is emerging. Whether this view is realistic or not, there is no harm in making an effort.” ― His Holiness The Dalai Lama XIV

“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”

“Often, you can tell a lot about people not by who they say they are, but by the chasm between what they say they stand for, and what they do.”
“Your beliefs don’t make you a better person. Your behaviour does.”

“I have learnt, I came alone and I have to go alone. I have learnt, some people are with you only when they need you, not otherwise. I have learnt, if you care for someone too much you will be hurt and ultimately blamed. Ultimately, I have learnt, love someone but not so much that you forget to keep some love for yourself.”

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take, relationships we were afraid to have, and the decisions we waited too long to make.”

“Don’t always look for happiness, sometimes you may just have to create it.”

“A ship is safe in harbour; but that’s not what ships are for.”

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings.”