My son,
My observation is that most people are not satisfied with what they have in life. They still crave for more of one thing or the other. I sometimes wonder if the reason for this is that some of us were born greedy and nothing that we have seems to satisfy us or give us contentment.
My son, there is nothing wrong with our desires for one thing or the other. It is our needs that keep us alive and going. However it is our wants that lead us to dream for more. Most people want more money, more material assets, more titles, more power and more of this or the other.
History has taught us of the rise and fall of kingdoms, empires, political careers and even family lives because of the never satisfied wants. There was never enough.
Some of us want more money but have no idea how or just want to have it the easy way. They have all these plans for their instant wealth, which have them running from pillar to post trying to achieve them. Some of us want more power and we do not care who or those we hurt or kill to achieve this end. Some of us crave more fun and may end up experimenting with drugs and ruining our lives. These are just some of the many ambitious wants – the list is endless.
How does one order his or her life to avoid the never-ending quest for earthly possessions with temptations all around us trying to get our attention? It is tough to ignore invitations to more wants in life. The marketing and advertising are really good. It is not hard to fall into the trap of materialism and consumerism. The media keeps telling us what to buy in order to look good, smell good and feel good, and where to spend our money. How can we close our eyes to the nice designer items, latest gadgets and what not?
My son years of experience have taught me a few things that I want you to learn so that your life will be a lot easier.
- Place a premium on your time and money.
- The “beautiful ones are not yet born”, what is the craze today will be passé tomorrow.
- Try to know what is important and relevant. Health my son is wealth. Take good care of yourself.
- If you do not want to end up old, alone and lonely don’t take your family relationship for granted – nurture it.
- With age you will get to understand that you don’t really need a lot of things and all those things you craved for or accumulated are all vanity and a chasing after wind.
- It is not a bad thing to want for more, it is normal. However, there is a price for everything we do in life. It may not cost you now but you have to pay for it later. Abuse your young body now and pay for it with ill health in old age. Spend less time with your family and chances are that you may die alone. Spend all your earnings trying to satisfy endless wants without savings and end up begging in your old age.
My son, live life with a measure of moderation.
Love you always,
Dad