Guest guest Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 > This editorial appeared in The Times of India > Make Time Now for Higher Pursuits > > > Most people see money as the starting point of > exchange, a means to acquiring goods and services. To > be able to access more and more of goods and > services, we strive to acquire more and more money, > working extra hours. > > > > > What we often tend to forget is that money comes at a > real price. Money is not the first point of exchange > in this world: it is an intermediate point. You earn > money for a good life , and, ironically, even as you > are struggling to earn money, you are exchanging your > good life for it. > > > > Pursuit of money can become an end in itself. It can > distort all values, and make you blind to the basic > purpose of life. Henry Thoreau discusses this > phenomenon in his celebrated book, Walden. > > > > When you, for instance, build a large and grand > house, or buy a new car, how do you understand the > cost of your acquisition? > > > > You may express it in terms of how many rupees you > have paid for your purchase. But this amount > represents a certain number of years of your labour > and earnings, a definite part of your life. > > > > Thoreau prefers to understand the cost of any > acquisition in terms of how large a portion of life > you had to expend to acquire it. If the cost of a > house is the equivalent of, say, a decade of your > toil and earning, the expenditure on the house is 10 > years; equal to maybe 12.5 per cent of your entire > life. > > > > Thoreau's view of eco-nomy in life is how to minimise > the portion of time on toil devoted to organising > food, clothing and shelter, so that the bulk of the > prime time is available for attending to callings of > a higher value in life. > > > > The situation in our present day world is most often > the opposite of this. Most of our life is spent in > the pursuit of money. Even the education of the > children is chosen with the purpose of equipping them > for this pursuit. > > > > Result: Occupation tends to become the sole > preoccupation, until acquiring money becomes a way of > life, drowning the very habit of thinking about any > higher pursuit. Thoreau sees much of what passes as > livelihood as a fool's penance. > > > > He pities young men in his town "whose misfortune it > is to have inherited large estates". > > > > Ego-driven, men expend the best part of their life to > raise their social status in a fool's paradise. If > and when they do get to it, they find it hardly > fulfilling. > > > > Having made it to the top rungs, they cannot descend, > because they fear a loss of face; and so they > continue to pay with the balance of their life to > maintain their 'position'. > > > > A successful CEO expressed this irony in the form of > a sequel to the fable of the fox and the grapes. The > fox, failing to reach the grapes, 'rejected' it as > sour. His friends, however, said he had failed and so > he was calling the grapes sour. > > > > The humiliated fox was provoked into action - while > his friends slept, he worked hard for long hours, > practising the high jump. One day, as his friends > watched, he jumped and deftly grabbed the grapes. The > fox earned their respect and titles were conferred > upon him. > > > > The poor fox, however, discovered to his dismay that > the grapes he'd managed to attain were in fact sour. > How could he reject it now? Would he not be jeered > at? > > > > The fox had reached the point of no return; he must > feed on, pretending to eat the sour grapes with great > relish. Miserable and unable to share his secret, the > fox eventually fell ill and died. > > > > K S Ram > > > > > (Your servant, > Ananga Manjari) > > > > SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it! > http://webhosting./ps/sb/ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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