Y should money come before Love?
It is funny how we have been trained to choose a career for ourselves. Choose something you enjoy, they always say. How many of us choose what we REALLY enjoy though? Even if we do end up doing something we really love, we ensure that it earns us some moolah (money).
But, own up, won't you? You actually enjoy just spending time with those you love and cherish, spend time indulging in the cultures like food, music and literature. Perhaps, also, you enjoy something else that is actually productive (like farming or an environmental lawyer) but reckon it would be a waste of your degree or would not provide enough money.
The generation before us invented the computer, the internet and created so much luxury for us to enjoy. They did all this with the motivation of gaining... money. Money so that they could lead a better life, a more comfortable life than they had before. Leaving us Gen Y with much at our disposal.
Some of Gen Y, like Mark Zuckerberg, embrace what they have been given and create even more.
Some decide that there is nothing more to create, nothing worth creating, nothing more to accomplish. They decide to remind us of our own mortality and destroy.
[I am reminded of this from the school shootings mentioned in the book 'We Need to Talk About Kevin'.]
Others choose to reach out to those of us who are less fortunate and help them through. As mentioned to me by my luv, only those with money would be most willing to do charity. Many in Gen Y have that luxury.
I am reminded of a partner in a firm I worked at who questioned why many of his employees decided to stop working and become missionaries or go off to pursue theology.
WHY? Because money has no meaning to them anymore.
Instead, maybe they want to reach out and touch humanity.
All I want to do is love, care and listen to people's stories. Not stories of accountants, lawyers or bankers, but real stories where the purpose of life is not a question but something truly lived.
[Reminds me of the lyrics from 'Time of Your Life' by Green Day - "It is not a question but a lesson learned in time".]
So, yes I am constantly asking 'Y'?.
I am afraid that I will die before I can expend all the love I have to offer.
[My usual disclaimer that these are just some of thoughts floating through my head. I may be wrong on so many levels. Feel free to bombard me if you disagree or even agree.]
2 comments:
Haha did this post arise from mulling about 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'? Seriously, that book depressed me so much that I had to remove it from my bookshelf.
I totally understand where you're coming from, but I do question whether people in lucrative careers are all motivated by money. To me, the very pursuit of such careers may simply be a manifestation of the pursuit of happiness that is common to all humanity.
Different people are happy with different things. For some, living on the edge from day to day not knowing what the next might bring may be exhilarating, for others, it may be terrible and soul-destroying. After all, some may find no meaning in life if they do not have the means to provide a safe, secure, and carefree life for those they love.
I do agree that those with money would be most willing to do charity. The employees in that firm can probably afford to stop working and become missionaries because they already have enough to take care of themselves and those they love. But I do think that the word 'charity' itself implies an abundance, an ability to give. I believe that the poor cannot do charity, because for them, it would be called 'sacrifice'.
Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but great thought-provoking post!
hmm...I think there is different ways you can be charitible, it's not just about money, and I've spoken to a lot of poor people who really don't have much money at all, but in many ways are more charitible than me. They spend time helping people in whatever way they can. I think everyone can do something charitible, even if it's as simple as giving your seat on a bus to someone less able.
I know where you guys are coming from, and understand that Yes, it probably is a lot easier for richer people to be charitible, but I think people have to be careful of using it as an excuse for not doing things themselves. and 'rich' is a relative concept. If I compare myself to Bill Gates, I'm dirt poor, but if I compare myself to the millions that live on less than a dollar a day, I'm pretty much as rich as Bill Gates. But I use 'I'm not rich enough' as an excuse all the time, often when I meet charity collectors on my way to spend my money on luxuries such as coffee!
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