what would you do if you had the time or money to do it? (#nablopomo)
The world we live in today teaches us that you have to work first and play later. It’s a group effort, all of us contributing to this idea that the only way to measure your success is to compare it against how much money you make and how many things you can buy, how many holidays you can go on, how big your house is or how flashy your car is.
When I first started looking for a job, I thought I would be able to find a job straight out of law school and that I would be earning good money. How wrong and naive I was!! It took me two years after graduation to find my first job out of uni, and then I learned I would only be on the minimum wage to start with. While I don’t measure success by how much money I make, I do sometimes catch myself wishing I made more money and “complaining” about being on the minimum wage. I know that an increased salary will come with time, matching my experience and depending on where I work in the future, but when I try to explain why I would like to earn more money now I worry that it comes across to others as me comparing my riches with theirs, or thinking that I will be more successful and better than them if I am richer.
To me, it is definitely not how I value and measure success. To me, success is measured by how happy my loved ones and I are in life, in work, in love, in friendships and in health. I don’t care how much money you make, I care if you are a nice person, a kind person. A person who is good for my life, who supports me and inspires me, who listens and cares and everything else a friend does, and allows me to offer and provide all of that and more to them in return.
Money can’t buy any of that, but it can make it a lot easier to achieve and maintain in our society. It can’t buy love, but it can buy (or rent) a house to call home, it can’t buy a healthy body but it can buy medicine to make you better. It can’t buy you friendship but it can buy you a plane trip to visit them. I believe that true happiness is a choice, but that choice is a hell of a lot easier to make when you can pay your bills, put food on the table, a nice bed to sleep on, the peace of mind knowing you live in a safe(r) neighbourhood and the ability to pursue your passions without the anxiety of being evicted because you can’t pay rent.
If I had the money, it would allow me to do so many things. I don’t think I would stop working, because my mind needs challenges, and I like to be active and involved with others. But we could splurge on some plane tickets home to see our friends and family, who we miss a lot. I could buy the new camera I’ve been eyeing off and not worry about having enough money to pay bills, and I could even find a puppy-friend to bring home with me!
As for time, it is always a precious commodity I am only now truly appreciating and understanding. If I had the time (and the money) I would do a photography course, spend more time with friends and family, go one more holidays…the list is never ending.
What would you do if you had the time or money?
