The most beautiful physical things in this life are oftentimes reserved for those who have the most money. Unfortunately, those with the most money oftentimes have the least ability to appreciate the beauty and intrinsic value these things have to make them expensive in the first place - they’ll cheer for glass pearls (or a pound of butter - Beuys), if it is sold at a high price with a suitable story, and they will disregard the most beautiful treasure if it comes free. So, in a way, they don’t enjoy their possessions any more than poor people do - oftentimes less, if anything, as the littlest flaw can upset their expectations, while the poor are oftentimes still grateful for the little they do have.
This is not just a theory by someone jealous who has not made billions yet - if you spend enough time with people on both sides of the spectrum you will see that this is true. Check it out yourself - you’ll hear more complaining about little things that really do not matter and find more miserable people in 5-star hotels, than in youth hostels or your average Holiday Inn.
Hell is if you are a person who can only see value in things if they cost a lot of money, and you don’t have any - either because you never figured out how to make it, or because you’ve lost it. That fear of this hell can also make your life miserable when you still have money.
The same applies when you can only love, or think you are only allowed to love, those who come with, or make a lot of money, be it due to your own expectations of being “kept”, or your upbringing that forbids you to marry “below your station”, or a misguided understanding of peer groups, likely installed by the rich you mix with, because your true love may come in a different form, at a different station, and may have his or her place there - not because they are inferior, but because they have a job to do where they are. According to the chaos theory, impact is not necessarily linear. You may lose out on the love you could have had because you thought you were too important to talk to him or her, as long as he or she hasn’t managed to become rich yet. If the person senses this and becomes rich subsequently, they will likely not want you anymore, because they will feel that you never loved them, but only their potential for making money, so they would feel used if they then started a relationship with you. They would also not be able to trust you - knowing that if they lost their money, you would likely abandon them, especially if they made this experience before. There is a reason why some of the super-rich pretend to be poor when they meet someone they like.
Heaven is when you CAN see the beauty and intrinsic value of things, whether they are expensive or free. If you have the money to buy all of it, it is a bonus. If you are poor, you will still at times be able to experience unbelievable joy. If you have a moderate amount of money, you will likely be able to experience more than you can take in without becoming used to it or jaded - there are so many castles and beautiful places open to the public now, so that you can visit even the beauty that only money can buy, at very moderate prices. You won’t be able to visit ALL the places the fantastically rich can visit, but they cannot easily visit all the places you can visit either, due to security concerns, and they will have more problems appreciating little things than you have, because they are used to another standard, and easier upset with things that don’t bother you. Standards are wonderful, if they motivate you to do more for others, including other species and the planet. They aren’t so wonderful if they turn you into a bitching whiner who gets a hissy-fit because the hotel fridge doesn’t include all the poisons you expected.
So true wealth comes with appreciation AND the ability to see the intrinsic value and beauty in things and people, regardless how much money is attached to them, and all of a sudden, your choices for sources of joy become endless.
Money is still a useful tool - in some situations it may be what is necessary so you can help others, including other species and the planet, so this is not about vilifying money. It is about seeing it as a tool, one tool of many, not the source of value, and it is about uncovering the limiting belief that only things and people who have money attached to them have value, in proportion to the amount of money.
Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela weren’t rich - yet their value to society was endless. Would they have been in the places they were to affect change if they had been fabulously rich? Doubtful. Mother Teresa wouldnot have become a nun, and even if she had been a nun, her family would likely have made sure she would not have been posted in the slums of Calcutta. Nelson Mandela would not have ended up in prison but would have likely bought his own island somewhere to protect his family. And would Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King have really had the drive to help the poor and disenfranchised if they had been remote from them?
A lot of rich people have done wonderful things fo the world. A lot of expensive things are beautiful. The reverse is also true. Money and value aren’t necessarily linked.
If we pursue creating value, the money may come also. Or not. Some pursuits if high value will never make much money, certainly not if marketing and sales skills aren’t also there in addition to the creation of value. So, if we create value, we may make money or we may not. But we will create and and make a difference and be able to recognize and appreciate value and beauty - and that is where true wealth lies.
Comments