It’s easy to get caught up in the sights and sounds of the city; so vibrant and busy. Its also fairly straightforward to define what a successful life in the city is all about. You know what I’m talking about. Its about the 4 C’s – Cars, Cats/chicks, condo, credit card. We need these, so that we can…. do what? I remember fondly, the first time I got a call from my bank, informing me that I had qualified for a Platinum card. Great? No. GREAT! That was just what I was waiting for. Thank you so much. This is it. I have arrived. I’ll show everyone now. I will…I will…??? What? “For God’s sake, Do something with it”, a voice in my head screamed. Do whatever makes you feel successful. Do whatever makes you feel like you are having fun. Do whatever you have always wanted to do. Now is the time to do those things you have been putting off for a long time.
Ok. Pause. What do you do?
You’ve probably not been in this situation before. You are probably the type who would know exactly what you would do, when you get a platinum card by mail. But have a think about it. Did lack of the 4Cs ever really stop you from doing what you enjoy doing, with what you have? And remember, the answer can’t be “It stopped me from getting the 4C’s“. We would then go into a never-ending loop, mixing up the means and the end.
“The 4 C’s make me more happy and less sad”. Really? I own my second house now, and I can assure you my happiness hasn’t doubled since the time I bought the first one. why is that? I cut down my cards from 4 to 1 and my sense of being rich and powerful hasn’t fallen 3/4ths. Why is that? We must be missing something here
Intuitively, we know we all have needs and we need to fulfill them. We need a roof above our heads; we need to provide for ourselves and those who depend on us etc.
So there can’t be a catch there.
Let’s explore something else. Technically speaking, you have wealth the moment you move from having 0 dollars to having 1 cent. But feeling wealthy with 1 cent or with a million bucks is a different matter. You can still suffer.
That’s where the catch is.
The poor suffer from poverty
The rich suffer from wealth
Of course, we all prefer being wealthy to being poor. So, the second kind of suffering is more tolerable. Ideally, there must be a way by which we can enjoy wealth without suffering from not feeling wealthy enough.
But does such a way exist?
If it exists, and it doesn’t involve the 4C’s, will we still be happy?
you need means for living…who decides how much is our means?
The more debt i pay down the happier i am. And because i move so much the less stuff i have to pack the easier life is. You would be surprised at what you can live without when you don’t have a choice.
L.
@Lotus: Travel free and light, and have a great 2010
One of the happiest days of my life was when I got rid of all credit cards.
I had run up the bills, but slowly got them lowered and eventualy paid off, and now, the only “card” I use is a debit card that serves like cash.
Coincidentally, I have been able to meditate better.
I think I am much richer because of it.
The lack of the card and the increase in meditation.
michael j
Conshohocken, PA USA
Thanks Michael…insightful views, as always ! Have a great 2010