Will 2015 be a good year? We don’t know. But what makes for a good year? Most of us believe it’s all about financial success. Yes, this is true: financial success is good, if, by “financial success,” we mean having the ability to pay for our needs and some appropriate wants—food, shelter, and clothing, basically life’s necessities, along with some extras that allow us to have a little fun and enjoyment in life; that is to say, financial success within moderation. What a thought! Who has ever heard of financial success within moderation?
In short, it’s hard to say when “enough is enough.” We tend to “want it all.” When do we ever have enough toys and gadgets, things to play with? When is the house we live in, our shelter, large enough, nice enough, comfortable enough to satisfy us? When is the car we drive ever good enough, new enough, luxurious enough? How much money do we really need in order to be truly happy and content, satisfied with what we have?
Many of us may start off with the right priority in terms of work and money. We go to work in order to live, to provide for house and home and family, as well as to possibly add value to people’s lives, that is, to make the world a better place. But how often does success turn this upside down and we find ourselves doing the opposite: living in order to work, to make more and then even more—money, money, and more money. “That’s a problem?” You ask. Well, yes; here’s why.
First, living to work, that is, making the pursuit of the all mighty dollar as the number one purpose in life, often leads to sacrificing the family, the very reason one gives as justification for one’s intense drive to pursue money in the first place—wanting to provide for one’s family. But what good is that pursuit if it causes one to lose spouse and children along the way?
Secondly, it is a misguided measure of real success and happiness. It’s been said before and it must be said again: having lots of money is actually not a good indicator of satisfaction and happiness in life—yes, it may bring immediate gratification and pleasure, but guarantees no lasting happiness and contentment in life. And it certainly does not protect you from life’s deeper threats and challenges such as catastrophic loss as in debilitating illness or even death or other internal emotional, psychological, or spiritual illnesses (buffers yes, but prevents, no).
Thirdly, it is a misguided source for personal value and self-worth, or for having meaning and purpose in life. Money cannot buy authentic friendship nor can it purchase genuine love. Nor can money fill-in the hole or gap within one’s inner-being where there is no real inner-peace, no true sense of self-worth or self-respect, which touches upon the fourth and most important point.
Fourthly the pursuit of money, as the end-all in life, leads to the neglect of one’s most precious possession—one’s soul. What good is it to gain the whole world only to lose one’s soul, Jesus said. This is a deep, wise and penetrating truth, so often ignored, even dismissed as irrelevant nonsense; yet, it is a truth that will haunt many at the end of life. This is where the lesson of Scrooge, in Charles Dickens’ tale, A Christmas Carol, is so apropos. May we all learn what the character Scrooge learned from his visiting spirits—about work, money, life, and our reason for being.
I pray that 2015 be a good year. I pray that we all prosper. I pray that the power and financial abuses of big cats from Wall Street are curtailed and that the humble American family living on Main Street USA may thrive once more and is given more economic empowerment, not less. I pray that our politicians pay less attention to the guy who greases his or her palm and gives more attention to the just needs of the middle class. But, politics and human nature being what they are, I must confess, my prayers are weak, for I have little confidence that the rich and powerful will suddenly see the light and the error of their ways in the year 2015.
Side note: Am I being too hard on the rich and powerful? Of course, the poor are no more saintly than the rich. But we know when the poor does harm to society: stealing, cheating, burglary, robbery, drug addiction, gang involvement, the drug trade, etc. But what do we know about white collar crime? How are the crimes done in the high rise offices within city skyscrapers policed, caught, and held accountable when they do harm to society? My guess is that we seldom learn about such crimes and when we do, there is little that is done to change things at that level.
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