by Frank Shetland

Created on: February 10, 2007   Last Updated: April 29, 2007

"If I had more money, I would..."
Fill in the blank. If you decided to do a survey of everyone you know, it is likely that you would receive a ridiculous array of answers from feeding the poor, buying houses for family members, and donating it all to a church or charity to mansions to ourselves, extravagant parties, and all the latest designer wear.
And what would I say?

My daydream would be to design and have built a luxury yacht on which I would take my family and friends all around the world.

Oh well. Just pipe dreams, I suppose. I guess I'll have to go back to everyday life and take breaks to daydream about the possibilities...

You see, I work at a university. I have a desk job. And although the pay is decent and I have benefits, I'm kinda tied down, you see. I don't really have time to travel the world. Maybe 40 years down the road when I have more money and I'm retired. Right?

Wrong. The quest to earn more and more money is often a quest that ends in disappointment. This heartbreak is not usually actually due to failure to earn more money but due to the letdown that occurs when the money turns out not to be the missing ingredient that will enable one to achieve his dreams.
Earning more money is not free. One must exchage his time for that money-and this means that family, freedom, and overall quality of life suffers. He will have top-of-the-line appliances that only the maid knows how to use. The children that he does not know will have the best education available. And traveling around the world? Not likely to be a family affair.

The answer the believing that more and more money will bring happiness is that no, it will not. Money is a useful tool, but more guts is what will help one to achieve happiness. Guts-guts to go out on a limb and go teach English in South America if the desire is to travel, to try to design one's own handbags if fashion is the passion, to jump in and find a useful way to contribute if philanthropy is the calling, and, above all, to enjoy the time with loved ones if the daydreams include making them happy-are what should really be quested for.

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