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Since childhood we are led to believe that money makes happiness. We pour our desire to feel good about objects, as if they were actually the origin of well-being. We grow up convinced that things make us happy and consequently we become obsessed with money. Because without money, we cannot buy all those objects that we see everywhere: on television, on social networks, in newspapers, on famous and smiling people.
From an early age, we are convinced that money is the most precious asset. Not only do we begin to judge others by this parameter (the more you have, the more you are worth), but we make money our obsession.
For many, their formula for Happiness = money + things - which is a dreadful truth
The problem is that sooner or later we all find ourselves at a point in our life where money counts for absolutely nothing. And when we get there, we realize that there is a much more precious asset.Death and the importance of time
There is nothing more democratic than death. At that moment, your bank account and the items you have accumulated are worth absolutely nothing. Each of us takes different life paths, but at that point we are all the same.
And with almost absolute certainty, I can say that any person about to die thinks that the most important asset is not money, but time. If he could, he would give away everything he owns to have more time.
Money can be accumulated and can be lost. You can became richer or poorer. The objects are bought, broken and thrown away. They can be owned by someone who is looking for it. You can always find a way to increase your money or assets, but there is no way to increase your time.
Seems obvious, doesn't it?
Yet it is not. Think about it: from an early age we are stimulated to chase many things, but not time.We are told to study to get a good job, which allows us to buy a large house and a powerful car. When we become adults, that instinct is still inside us, stronger than ever, in fact we do not choose the job that we like and reward most, but the one that pays best.
The false myth that wants material wealth equal to happiness infects us as children and pushes us, as adults, to never say no in front of the opportunity to make money. Even when we don't need it. Even at the expense of our relationships, our passions and our health.
As you pursue money, time passes inexorably
You work, you work and you work, chasing a wealth that will never be enough. Because if when you have zero the prospect of having 100 seems fantastic, when you finally have 100 you think it would be great to have 1,000. And when you reach 1,000 you ask yourself, "Why not get to a million?" In the meantime, time passes. Inexorable.The days go by without leaving a trace. They are all bloody the same, because they are based on repetitive activities: every day you go to the office and always repeat the same actions. Day after day, decade after decade.
There are very lucky people who love their jobs. In them I have always seen a very rare happiness: that of taking up your time and making a living by doing what you love. The vast majority of humans, however, are not happy with their job.
The paradox of preferring money over time
Many wake up every morning with a bad mood and appear nervous in the office. When they understand that they are dissatisfied, they have only one possibility to get by: anesthetizing the mind. Making the mind impervious to those dangerous thoughts (one above all: "isn't it that I'm throwing my life away?") Is the only way to continue pursuing material gain. And that's what all institutions put in our heads from an early age: fatigue, renunciations, sufferings, the myth of "carrying the cross" are necessary characteristics to be rewarded (perhaps) tomorrow.
I didn't envy the money of the millionaires, but their time
Everyone envies millionaires, but for the wrong reason. We believe we admire their lives for the money they have in the bank, in reality it is not so: what we envy is the time they have available.Do you know why you would like to be the millionaire on Instagram? Because he has the time to do what he wants.
Most people are forced to work at least five days a week, often eight hours a day. It is an exhausting activity, which lacks energy and keeps our dreams of happiness away. What really sets millionaires apart from everyone else is not luxury cars and villas with a swimming pool. Their most precious asset is not money, but the time they have to do what they want.
Learn to be like the weather
What I understood by meeting many madmen and dreamers on my way, is that the real purpose of life can never be simple monetary enrichment. What will make us smile, as an elderly, will be to look back without regrets but with a heart full of wonderful memories.
You cannot buy the awareness of having made sense of our journey on this earth. It's true: trying to have more free time isn't easy. But it is worth trying, because time passes inexorably. At the time, nothing matters about money, responsibilities, appearances, what others think is right.
And sometimes we too should be like the time: stop thinking about obligations, responsibilities and "what's right". Sometimes, simply, we should flow relentlessly towards our happiness.
