Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to earn more.
My regular job is paying me good but to keep up with life’s constant and
incessant changes, I need to find more income. If we’re to go back to several
years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that I’ll be this addicted with money. Now,
I am convinced that I need it. It’s my top priority.
Somehow, such admission makes me feel ridiculous. All this
time, I’ve been telling people that happiness does not lie in money alone. I’ve
always believed that the best things in life are free. But as I assume
responsibility over my family, I end up realizing that money is necessary. But here’s
the catch: it’s not actually money that
we like. It’s the sense of security that money brings which we’re after.
We use money to get ourselves our basic needs – shelter,
food, and clothing. We use it to pay our bills which we use to get on with our
daily lives like water, electricity, internet, and whatnots. We use money to
pay for our medical expenses. We use money to entertain ourselves. We use money
to exist well in the world. And without money, where would we think we’ll be?
Money provides us an assurance that whatever happens, we
will be fine. If we have money for everything, we are freed from stress and
worries. Believe me. It’s never easy to worry about where to get the money to
pay for everything, especially medical expenses. I’ve been there. I’ve done
that. And I never want to go back there again.
True, money can be an instrument of evil as it provokes
immense temptation. But is there anything in this world which cannot turn bad
if abused? Money becomes evil when the person uses it for evil things. It
enslaves people who willingly worship it. There’s nothing wrong with money as
long as it is spent for the betterment of life. If it’s not, that’s where the
problem arises.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to have so much money as
long as we know we deserve it, and as long as we work hard for it. But we must
always remember that we have the responsibility to use it well. We shouldn’t
worship it. Let it worship us. We have to manage it wisely so it can do good things
in our lives.
As I end, I remember a quote I got from KBS’ The Human
Condition. It said "money can provide the means for happiness; but It can never
be happiness itself.” True enough, right?
