“Money can’t buy love, but it improves your bargaining position.”- CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
Those who are reading this article, have you ever seen those videos where someone approaches strangers on the street and asks, "What is more important, money or love?" It's rather funny to watch how someone who chooses money over love is frequently criticized online, while someone who chooses love over money is seen as the perfect person. However, this is just my personal opinion, so I could be mistaken, but I think I am not! Isn't it interesting that while we as humans chase money our entire lives, when someone regards it as their life's priority, they become greedy?
In reality, the question is never one of love versus money. Rather, it is one of knowing what makes a prosperous life and setting priorities appropriately. It is also about placing a higher value on self-awareness than living a life according to social norms. The most valuable possession a person can have should be the freedom to live their life as they see fit, every day. Everyone wants happiness and fulfillment from their lives, but most people do not understand that running only after one aspect of life without understanding and valuing the other is never going to lead anyone to a fulfilled life. The ability to live one's life as one pleases is the ultimate source of happiness. A unique resource that is only available to individuals with sufficient financial means is the ability to live life literally as one pleases, doing whatever one wants, with whoever one wants, and for however long one wants.
THE WHOLE THING IS THAT KE BHAIYA SABSE BADA RUPAIYA
“It’s not about the money. It’s about the lifestyle.”- DAN PENA
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Money is one of the main driving forces of life. People having less of it suffer and people having more of it without understanding its value suffer too. Only the ones having adequate knowledge about handling money are the ones who suffer somehow less than the others. Especially in an increasingly sophisticated economy, having financial knowledge is the most essential skill for surviving in the current time. A person who has the best education in the world can still be financially illiterate. They might even be successful in their own field but still lack financial knowledge. This lack of financial knowledge will not only make their success stagnant but also make them suffer in the long term. Financial knowledge is not only essential for having financial success but is also necessary for having control over life. Having control over one’s life is associated with the level of satisfaction a person achieves over his lifetime.
In this modern and complex world, often gaining wealth is miscomprehended with materialistic gains. But however, on the contrary, wealth is not those fancy cars; wealth is not those branded clothes and wealth is not those lavish houses. True wealth is invisible to the naked eye. Wealth is the compilation of all those real assets that bring cash flow to the bank accounts of a person without them working for the money. Being rich is not equal to being wealthy. Being rich is temporary while being wealthy is permanent. It is being rich means having a sufficient amount of money to cater to the needs of the present time. Whereas being wealthy means having enough money to generate assets that will not only cater to the financial desires of the present time but also of the future time. The main difference between a rich person and a wealthy person is that one can find rich people everywhere, while wealthy ones are rare to find.
The concept of money is associated with several myths and the biggest of them is that more money brings more content to people’s life. More money does not and cannot bring content to one’s life, but more savings and investment rates certainly can. The less money one can live with, the more they can be satisfied with their lives. Wealth building is not based upon the concept of increasing income but is rather based upon living below the means concept. The ones who give priority to humbleness rather than ego-boosting wealth are the ones who are the most content in this materialistic world. A person with a low income can also build wealth when maintaining an appropriate savings rate. Conservation and efficient use of finance is more important than increasing the rate of income.
A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE IS WHAT IT TAKES
“Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it.”- RABINDRANATH TAGORE
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Till now, we had a great talk about money and its related values. Now let us delve into the favorite topic of Bollywood or, in fact, most of us in general, ‘love’. Does all the money and no love life make Jack a dull boy?? Well, of course, it does. Yes, people must work their whole lives to build wealth and to live a good life. But one must never neglect their loved ones and leave them stranded in life just to go forward. The way it is necessary to have financial knowledge to live a content life, in the same way, it is essential to respect and value the feelings and emotions of one’s loved ones to live a good life. The topic of love does not really need more discussion as it has already been discussed for ages. Zillions of books are made on love, billions of songs are written about it, and, of course, thousands of movies are made too, and that is also every year. But still, people in today’s times somehow do not know how to deal with the emotions and feelings attached to loving a person.
If chasing all your life after money is wrong, then dedicating and sacrificing one’s whole life to gaining other people's love and attention is also definitely not the right thing to do. Having a balanced life is very important for the overall growth and development of one’s persona. A people-pleaser or a person who is never able to say no to others or who often puts others above themselves are the ones who often have to face all the troubles in their lives. Loving oneself is more important than loving others. Having a healthy relationship with oneself and one’s goals is an essential step in having a healthy relationship with others. Understanding one’s traumas and handling those traumas is the one and only way that will lead to the emotional well-being of a person. As they say, self-love is the only way to live a content and successful life.
In the present time when the majority of people are dealing with anxiety, depression, and, most importantly, negativity online, it is extremely essential to have a group of comforting people, be it even one’s parents, on whom one can rely upon, or even a small group of friends. It is only the realest of relationships that help a person grow and keeps them going in the hardest of times, and it is only these people who can keep pushing a person and make them realize their own worth, which they sometimes themselves tend to forget. In other words, a little bit of love and compassion is not totally a bad thing to have in one’s course of life.
WE FINALLY HAVE A WINNER AND NONE OF YOU GET TO LOSE
“Integrity is the foundation upon which all other values are built.”-BRIAN TRACY
Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big round of applause to the ultimate winner: ETHICS. I know what you all are wondering, but all of these have been between love and money right; where does ethics come from here? Well, ethics is that surprise character here which was always there but no one really took the time to notice or appreciate it ever. Money and love are both sides of the coin and are complimentary to each other. These two can never fulfill one’s life alone without the other being involved. But you know what is greater than both of these? Well, I know you are all smart enough to realize by now; that it is none other than ethics or morals. It is only one’s values and ethics that make a person great and successful in life.
Well, what is ethics? You know that ethics are extremely personal and differ with each person out there. Ethics are those principles and morals that a person’s lifetime decisions depend upon. Ethics are the basis of construction while building a person’s life. Even in my most difficult situation, I choose never to deceive anyone or do anything that will harm any living being in this world. No, that is not boosting honey! It is just my personal ethical value that I choose to cling to for my entire life. These ethics are the only thing that will decide what a person’s future will look like. As they say, it is always easy to achieve the first step of success, but what is difficult is being consistent with that success. This consistency can only be achieved when one is true to himself and is always reliable in their initial and deepest ethical values. These values are the biggest contributor towards becoming self-confident and believing in oneself and, most importantly, having one’s perspective towards life.
Now all these lessons on ethics are, but the main question here is how one knows what is right, and what is wrong, or what is the right thing to do when life actually gives you lemons? Look around you, fellas, all those mythological books, all those non-mythological books written by great people sharing their experiences about how they dealt with their struggles and became great; why do you think they exist? No, not just for fun, but to teach the present and the future generations about the main difference between right and wrong. All these old aged people talking about spirituality and these books on mythology are just not there for old people to rely upon in their old age. These exist so that we can learn from our ancestors and make them our guiding lights while walking on our journey of life. So, next time your granny tries making you listen to mythological stories instead of making faces, just try listening to them with an open mind and pure heart, and trust me, you will find the solutions to your most modern problem in just a minute. Hence, when in doubt, just remember to have faith in your values passed on to you by your ancestors.