It's Cheap If You Can Buy It
Redefining wealth
What we buy does not make us who we are. Nor does what we wear. Drive. Or the size of our home. However, society today wants us to focus on the mirages of wealth and success. To the point where we buy cars and homes we simply cannot afford. It appears the focus today is what someone can buy. The lavish vacation they take. Yet, despite the efforts that we take to look and feel successful and wealthy, they are pointless.
The word is ephemeral. Things these money can buy are worthless. The irony.
John Steinbeck has a great quote:
“Anything that just costs money is cheap.”
Meaning that in life we are to experience things, and people and events. Simply going through buying anything you want because you can, is a cheap way to live. It actually costs you nothing. It doesn’t allow you to interact with life and people in the way you’re intended. It’s cheap because it only takes money to acquire. You should want the things in life that are hard to obtain. The things money simply cannot buy.
For instance love. Or peace. Happiness. Calm. Wealthy isn’t some external validation. Rather, an internal pursuit that only you decide on. Not people in the outside world. By following their example you will be broke, in debt and stressed. However, when you consider what philosopher Cicero said:
“that the wise person alone is rich.”
It makes you wonder why you pursue such material things in life. Things you have no space for anymore in your home or mind. Things that cost more than just the price you buy it for. Things that take you away from you. “Being rich” or wealthy is a thought exercise of what matters most to you. Because there are things money cannot buy and those are the things you must pursue.
Not something so cheap that all it costs is money.
Thought Provoking Question 1 : What can you pursue that does not cost money?
Dan Roman is a Husband, Father, and writer that releases a daily blog. A quick read on sharing wisdom and asking though-provoking questions.
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