More is Less
Human beings
are strange species with a plethora of conflicting and contradictory emotions. There is a mix and at times a blend
of both positivity and negativity. What dominates your personality is what
makes all the difference. We are born with the capacity of intense and pure
feelings of love, compassion, kindness, gentleness , sensitivity and empathy. Then
what happens along the way? What makes us mean, selfish, self centered, rude ,
manipulative and uncaring among others? We can blame circumstances,
conditioning, family, friends, environment etc. Ultimately we are what we are
just because we choose to be so!
Let us explore certain qualities we have. I understand
lust, jealousy, anger, pride and even hate. What I cannot understand or
even accept is GREED! Greed is nothing but excessive
or rapacious desire for wealth , possessions, status or power ; much more than
what one would need for this lifetime. Erich Fromm
described greed as "a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless
effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction." Greed is a human beings worst incurable disease.
It’s
not the end that is crucial here ( there is NO end) it’s the means in their
pursuit of ‘more’ and what it does to
people. It changes them totally- making them manipulative, conniving,
compulsive liars, malicious, vain, competitive,
tyrannical, dominating, think they are invincible , selfish and worse devoid of feelings and consideration.
They live half their lives plotting and
planning how to make more )most of the times this can happen by denying it
to or depriving others ) and they live
the other half in fear and worrying- fear of
losing what they have or worrying
about the uncertainty !
So
then where does this all lead to? Nowhere! Except a life of chaos, confusion, fear and
constant worrying.
Five
of my friends are fighting legal battles for ‘inherited’ property and wealth
with their own family members. Such a terrible mess! But very sadly they forget
the following:
1. They haven’t earned it neither have they worked for it . Someone else
has worked hard for it and forgot to spend it on themselves! ( very stupid I
must say)
2. They are getting it just by virtue of birth and not because they deserve
it or done much to deserve it.
3. Whatever they get is just a BONUS, so they better be grateful and
content with it.
4. If they don’t get it, maybe they don’t deserve it anyways.
5. If the will or other documents have been manipulated its because the other
person was smarter and definitely greedy.
6. What you are destined to get- you
will, without any courts or judgments.
So in a nutshell they are fighting over something that
they made zero contributions to.
Where will greed end? It doesn’t. It just consumes your
entire life just like cancer! Eventually you just wither away and die! And when
you die, you take nothing with you! So this life greed was for nothing!
Remembering Alexander the great’s quote- “A tomb now suffices him for whom the whole world
was not sufficient.”
It is never too late to change and learn to be content
and to live in love and peace.
