We all aspire to do well in life. One of the first thing, which attracts us to measure our success in life is money. When we start our career in a corporate or even as an entrepreneur, we struggle to make both ends meet in our life. We dream of making it big in our career in a corporate or in our business and earning enough to live our dreams in life.

This journey of earning enough money, seems to be a journey with no end at sight. Whatever we earn, we tend to spend and wonder, why it is not enough, to fulfil our needs in life. What we sometimes forget, is that “needs” can be fulfilled but “greed” can never be quenched.

The day we realise that our needs are limited and greed is not, we may have arrived in life. It is like the river flowing down the plains from its origin. As the river flows, it may think ,it is going to expand and grow and never end. But, when it reaches the ocean and merges into it, it realises, that it does not even have an existence of its own.

Life is no different. We may start with meagre earnings, which may not even fulfil our basic needs. But, as we grow in our career or our business, we may go much beyond our needs and become greedy. It is at this stage, we become like the river flowing down the plains. We are overwhelmed by the greed and think that ,anything is not enough to fulfil our greed.

It is at this stage, we need to get a friend or family member ,to guide us and help us differentiate between needs and greed. If we are able to master ,this dilemma in our lives, we may become happier and more satisfied with what we have ,rather than aspiring ,for the ever eluding wealth in our lives.

Another good learning in life, is to compare with those, who have less than us. We are so privileged that we have a house to live in, good food to eat and family and friends to spend time with. But, there are millions of people around the world, who struggle to have ,two square meals a day.

The day we can distinguish between needs and greed, we may realise the meaning of contentment in life. Contentment is being happy ,with what you have rather than worrying about ,what you do not have. We always tend to compare ourselves with people, who have more than us rather than people, who do not.

I would not say ,it is wrong to aspire for more ,in life. How much more is good enough ,is the question ? Where is the threshold, which could make you happy ? If i have one car, I need two and if I have two, I would want a third and so on.

Happiness comes from within us. Gratitude and contentment, contribute immensely to happiness in life. When our needs are fulfilled in life and we think of supporting those, who have less than us, we become happier. Happiness is a state of mind and attitude to life.

The mantra to happiness in life is to fulfil our needs, understand the difference between needs and greed and be grateful for what we have rather than what we do not.

Let’s look within ourselves from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

23rd Dec 2024