Chasing joy, not dollars
I often revisit memories of early relationship days with my wife when we just started our careers. We both were earning a fraction of what we make today. Those days we lived extremely frugally. And while we treat ourselves to nice vacations now, we used to travel on shoestring budget then. Materialistically, we are living far richer lives today than when we just started our relationship and careers.
And yet, there is hardly any difference in how happy we feel internally.
We are grateful for where we are today, but we felt enormously abundant and excited even then when we had close to nothing. Despite meager salaries, we still saved and invested. We had time of our lives traveling and partying with almost no money.
I deeply know this now that our internal happiness doesn’t depend a great deal on how much we earn or have in our bank. This isn’t a big secret to anyone, but a realization coming from our own past experiences ingrains it deep in your psyche.
Of course one needs certain amount of money to live comfortably, to pay bills, and to afford an occasional indulgence. But beyond a point, money stops contributing to our inner joy. After all, quality of our lives depend on our inner state of being, which is determined by depth of connections with our loved ones, how present we are, how enthusiastic we feel about our work, and how grateful we feel for what we have today.
Money can’t buy any of it. It can play a supporting role in helping us find inner joy, but it is a very lousy replacement for it.
This realization can be extremely librating. You still want to be very wealthy, but it will no longer be an obsessive goal. Wealth is only an outward expression of your inner creativity and the impact you will bring in lives of others. Steve Jobs, for instance, became wealthy not by fixating on money, but by sharing his gifts of crafting beautiful products with the world.
Understanding this will give you the freedom to follow your calling and obsess about honing your craft rather than chasing a number. Wealth will arrive in due time as a consequence. Whether it comes a bit late or falls a bit short, it doesn’t bother you. You will view it objectively. You can plan on how you will generate, grow, and preserve it. But it will only occupy a small space in your mind and won’t take over your life.
That’s how wealth will serve you instead of you serving your life to it.
If you liked reading this post, you will find more such useful insights at Long Term Folks newsletter here: https://www.longtermfolks.com/
