Its Not All About The Money, Honey.

I will be honest with you. Money matters to me. Actually it does to everyone, except the monk who sold his Ferrari (poor guy, I could never read that book, I would not be able to bear the sorrow), it’s only that some people wouldn’t admit the relevance it has in their lives. I am not one of them. I am blatantly shameless about it. Money matters, I will never deny the fact. Give me the best job in the world, if it doesn't pay me well, I ain't moving nowhere. And don't give me the cliché of money not being able to buy happiness, puhleaze. It is always more comfortable to be crying in a limousine than on a bicycle. Point being, if money cannot buy you happiness, the lack of money cannot guarantee lack of sorrow either, so while scientifically we have established that there is no relationship between money and happiness, if given a choice I would prefer to be rich thankyouvermuch.

Then what am I doing writing about "Its not all about the money". Well, the key word in that sentence is ALL. My argument is only about the time when people start getting competitive about it. Money matters - but only to an extent. Don't go all psycho about it. Like with everything else in life, create your goals, achieve them, and then ---- chill. It is not a race. In the competition of hoarding, I would like to opt out, if you don't mind. Because I don't see a point. You aimed for a lifestyle, you got it. You aimed for certain things that money could buy for you, you got it. After that, what is the point? Especially, what is the point when you entire goal was stacking up, and nothing else? I cannot understand when people do that, like stack-up and then live in a miserly condition. Are they taking it all to their grave, like literally having gold plated platinum coffins? If not, is it only about the idea of hoarding, the numbers? If so then count me out, the money was not my end goal, it was only the means.

To tell you the truth, the whole number game is a pain in all the wrong places. I am a Marketing guy I tell you, though they did force some Finance subjects down my throat during MBA. I do make my investments and play around, but its a pain. I don't identify with those deriving orgasmic pleasures out of stock trading. Not my game. It again goes back to me saying, money is not the end goal for me, its just the means to get there.

So what are the end goals then? Not really objectively defined, but they have a lot to do with experiences. Having a variety of experiences. Through traveling, through interacting with different people, through having various professions. You might argue, those have nothing to do with money, especially the latter two, and yes, I have heard that argument before. True, everyone meets different kinds of people in their lives, but think about it, if I have lived, worked and traveled to 20 countries in 3 continents, I surely must have encountered a greater diversity than those who have never stepped out of their own country. If I have worked on 4 multi-national, multi-cultural organizations in 4 cities, with 4 very diverse roles and professions, I must have seen a much broader professional spectrum than those who have worked in . Regarding wanderlust, I can go on and on, there is too much written about how traveling is an education in itself. I am pursuing my Ph.D. now, and let it just suffice for me to say that I have learned a lot more from my travels than my formal education, and this is a school from which I will never, and don't want to, graduate. Of course not to trivialize the fact that formal education, in itself is a blessing, and a lot of people who have it, do not appreciate it. I can go on and on. Sports. Music. Art. Dance. And then some which are best left unmentioned. The list of experiences is endless. And those I feel are the end goal, not money in itself.

And although money enables you to achieve all this, it becomes the means to reach these pinnacles, I still see people, including some business school classmates, trying to compete with each other on the numbers. And I feel sorry for them. I still meet insanely rich men who have not experienced so many things that their money enables them to experience. I still stumble across rich men with no personalities because they have not used their money to gain experiences which enriches them. And to them I feel like saying: Its not about the money, honey.

If you are thinking "the true experiences which bring happiness in life are free", pardon me but I would beg to differ. And I would only agree to you if all the worlds governments stopped charging money for all tourism related activities. Traveling can change your life, and its not free. And if you have not traveled, you have not lived.

And yeah, if you live in Sweden, you just feel that extra bit of a right to share ABBA than others :)

Pic courtesy: debragrayelliott.blogspot.com