I know that we all say we understand money, fame etc... will not deliver the satisfaction and happiness that throughout history humans have believed it would bring them. But I also know that deep in our heart there is a constant struggle to accept this truth completely. It is hard to not be envious when looking at people who are "set for life" and jet setting around the globe never having to worry about the day to day grind of paying the bills etc... But all we need to do is consider the all too common stories of the people who have achieved this lifestyle only then to self destruct due to their dissatisfaction with the life they have acchieved. They seemingly have it all yet it is still not enough. Tiger Woods became a billionaire doing something He loves to do, has a super model wife and healthy children. He still wasn't satisfied. You wouldn't be either.
One of Tiger's houses
These issues of money, envy, contentment, etc... will lead right into my next blog post, "The Relativity of Wealth".
1 comment:
Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.
Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?
Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!
~Bonhoeffer
Post a Comment