A little kingdom I possess,
Where thoughts and feelings dwell;
And very hard the task I find
Of governing it well.
~ Louisa May Alcott

...that more or less describes my situation!

 
All of us seem to be running very fast... somewhere, someplace... as if in a hurry to get there... but where are we running to? What do we hope to find at the end of this journey called life... I still haven't figured it out, but most people seem to have and I have to congratulate them.

At a very young age in life, I realised that money meant something. I don't pretend to say there are not others who know its value more than me - I have certainly seen more unfortunate - but I did realise it meant something. As I happened to read somewhere - don't remember the exact words - something to the effect that money may not solve all problems, but it certainly solves most. Well, I'll say I agree. But out of my early experiences, I realised that though it was something, it was not everything. It just seems to be everything when you don't have enough of it, but when you do... it leaves you empty. It just does not fill you up or make you feel warm and happy from within. It affords a temporary satisfaction; the satisfaction of buying that dining set that you absolutely love... but it is just that - 'temporary'.

I find that most young people these days are so hot in pursuit of money that they crib about having no time for anything else. No time for family, no time for loved ones - and, no time even for themselves. When I am asked, what would you? If we don't earn now, when will we? Look at so and so, and look at me? I do not know what to say. I want the best for them. I want them to succeed. I want them to have all the comforts of house, car, etc. I want them to get there. But I ask myself, what is this money for? Who is this money for? If it is only for yourself to enjoy, good enough. But if it is for you to enjoy with those you want to enjoy it with, are you sure they will still be around when you have all those things? Isn't every moment that you can have and share with your dear ones, worth having and sharing. Tomorrow you will have opportunities for money, but tomorrow, if they are gone, will they come back? In this race for money when you leave them behind, what if they're not there, when you do turn back?

Sometimes I feel that we never give the people we love, enough of our time and attention, when they are there with us. We never realise that at the end of the day, it is people who matter. It is they who bring moments of joy and happiness in our lives... it is they who pull us up when we have lost all hope. Imagine if we were offered to live on a lonely island -- in a million dollar mansion and all the works. Would that be something?

I want to say this.... do pursue your dream.... do succeed...earn so much recognition and wealth that I can say I am proud of you.... but don't run so fast that you do not have the time to catch your breath and tell the people who mean something to you, that you're still with them...that you want them, need them, love them.... that no matter how fast you run, you can go only so far without them...

----------

No matter how hard you hug your money, it never hugs back.
~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 1:41 pm 0 comments

 
Long time since I shared some lovely words ...here goes...

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread--and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness--
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

-- Omar Khayyam
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 1:31 pm 0 comments