We all are aware of the famous MasterCard advertisement that proclaimed “there are some things money can’t buy, for everything else there is MasterCard” well the inspiration to write this post comes partly from that. Money is a very crucial part of our everyday life some will go to the extent of branding it ‘the most important thing in this world’ and why not after all money can give us so much. It can give you food, clothes, shelter, comfort, health, status and lot of other luxuries in life which will be impossible at best and difficult at the least to attain without it.
However, money’s importance in our age some would say is too overemphasized, to the extent that it can cause and indeed does cause many to tread along the path of immorality in order to procure it. People do a lot of immoral, undignified and unlawful acts in order to be able to possess money but they all forget the old adage that “money in itself can’t buy happiness”. It is true that money can provide happiness to some but such happiness is short lived and is materialistic in nature coming with an expiry date tag. There is another old adage that says “best things in life are free” and these best things are enlisted here for your convenience. Read on!
10. HOPE – THE FOUNDATION ON WHICH THE WORLD STANDSOne of those most important of things that money surely can never buy – hope is the waking dream so proclaimed Aristotle. Hope is the ingredient that keeps us going in times when there is no way out, when our backs are to the wall and one has nowhere to go, hope keeps us ticking along. Hope is absolutely free, it can come from within you or from someone else but there is no doubt about its power. It is a known fact that many leaders when faced with adversities, soldiers facing deadly situations on the battlefront or any individual faced with a dead end in life have relied upon hope to carry them through the difficult times. One can truly crush a soul when you take away its hope from it.
9. PEACE – THE KEY TO LASTING HAPPINESSPeace can never be bought by money because if it could be we would have never needed to fight the countless number wars we did. Peace is the ultimate state of affair; it is a place where there is no violence, no strife, and no hurt. It is an important thing that money can’t buy; it helps us as humans to live a better life without insecurities and in a place where everyone lives with dignity and respect for all. Peace has been elusive to mankind through its history, some would say because of inherent nature of being violent creatures of nature, but it is something that countless people have fought for generations such as Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. among others.
8. IMMORTALITY – YOU WISH!Well unless you can somehow find a vampire to bite in the neck, which is highly unlikely, you have no chance of getting immortality leave alone buying it with money. Immortality in the physical sense is a miracle that mankind has been fascinated with for ages, one can find popular references to it everywhere which stems from the craving to be forever alive. Immortality of name can be attained through great acts which define you and leave an everlasting impression on generations to come but that require talent, hard work, perseverance and out-of-the world abilities. Only few are born with such goods to make their name immortal in history.
7. RESPECT – IT IS EARNEDOne can be as rich and powerful as possible but it is not necessary that such wealth and power will bring with it respect. We all want to be respected by our peers, our juniors and our elders but respect of all things can never be bought because it is earned. Respect is earned through sheer hard work, love, and respect for others, humility and a sense of goodness. Respect is the most fragile of all social possessions and has to work very hard each and every day of his/her life to earn it.
6. FRIENDS – ONE OF THE GREATEST TREASURESOne might argue that money can actually buy you friend but those friends are not friends in the best sense of the word but mere companions who will leave your side the moment you don’t have the mullah with you. Real friends cannot be bought with money they are needed to be cultivated through love, help, sustained care, respect and a time. Friendship is one of the most special and sacred relationships in the world, a friend may whiter away with time for causes other than money, but they will always think the best about you.
5. TALENT – THE GIFT OF NATUREThis is one thing that we possess within ourselves from birth or at least those who have it. Talent, creativity or ingenuity is something for which you can’t get a bill of purchase, you are either born with it or you are not. There are numerous examples throughout ages where creativity surpassed money people like Leonardo Da Vinci and Vincent Van Gough come to mind who never sold their greatest creations for money or fame. Talent can sure to take you places, towards success but it has to be coupled with hard work as well.
4. TIME – THAT UNCONQUERABLE THINGIf a given a chance many among us would give up a lot of money to be able to go back in time or relive those beautiful memories we have had of our childhood, our first outdoor camp, our college days and other things. But sadly, at least for now, money can’t buy us time and in doing so it gives us a very important message of living through and cherishing each and every moment because who knows if we ever will get an opportunity to re-live them. It is best to make the most of the time we have got instead of holding our fortunes to buy the time machine when it is invented.
3. CHARACTER – ITS IS BUILTOnce proclaimed by a generation as “True Wealth” character is something that comes from within, it is something that is built, nurtured and developed instead of being purchased at the nearest supermarket. Character defines a person, it tells us about the person, it’s the confluence of great individual qualities that person possesses such as trustworthiness, respect, judgment, fairness, equality and responsibility. It is one of the rare things to be found these days but if it can be then it surely won’t be bought with money.
2. LOVE – THE GREATEST OF ALL TREASURESThe most special of all feeling, the greatest of all treasures a man or woman can possess – Love is the eternal flame that keeps humanity going on. We all know what love is, how it feels to be in it and that it can’t be purchased. True love involves devotion, care, responsibility, trust and happiness for your lover. Love of not only your partner but love for your and of your parents, siblings and friends can’t be bought at a store it’s a truly objective feeling that just happens without making any discrimination based on race, wealth, looks and many other things.
1. HAPPINESS – THE EVERLASTING PURSUITThe last nine things listed above all together lead to this very special feeling known to us as happiness. Happiness has been a pursuit that we have never given up on, happiness can be derived from money as well but such as happiness is always short lived because there always seems something else that will give us more happiness. True, genuine happiness comes from the love in our life, from the respect we earn, from the moments we cherish, from our friends and from the peace that we seek. This most important thing can’t be bought with those green bills in your pocket.
