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Are Wealthy People Happy?
The secret to happiness is quite simple. Happiness does not mean having a good job or salary. It does not mean having money or a position in society. When we observe the world deeply enough, we see that the wealthiest people are not very happy. They have to toil all day long to maintain their wealth and status. Most of these people have strained relationships. They are under pressure from all sides, especially because they are famous and want to keep up an image in front of society.
Some Wealthy People Can Lead a Double Life
Famous people unfortunately lead a double life. Internally they have a different character and externally they portray a completely different image. Maintaining an image in front of society is stressful. The so-called successful people have to constantly employ status, power, resources, and money to build and maintain a public image.
Internally, these people may nurture many abominable vices, and yet they try to portray a clean image in front of society. Lesser intelligent people fall prey to the external facade of the rich and famous. They try to imitate these rich people and end up destroying their value systems. It is important to understand that unless one maintains a consistent character internally and externally, it is impossible to lead a stress-free life.
We should maintain originality as far as possible
If we try to act as someone that we are not, naturally we shall develop stress and this stress will go on building over time. There will be a time when one shall be completely exposed. Unless we come to terms with our inner selves, we can never be stress-free or happy. The problems that a common man faces in everyday life are many. We have to maintain a family, we have to maintain our jobs, we have to maintain relationships and friends. We face issues daily, and we have to find solutions.
Even these simple tasks shall build pressure over time. So we try to study the lives of the rich and famous because we feel that such people are beyond the issues of the common man. We try to employ some of their tactics to defeat the challenges of otherwise ordinary lives. This is a great mistake.
8 Questions from Sanatana Dharma
The scores generated in this quiz are absolute. There are right or wrong answers to each Question. A percentage towards 100 indicates that you are more aligned to the overall subject.
Our Conceptions About the Rich Are Usually Wrong
We fail to realize that these so-called rich and famous are in a deeper mess compared to us. Our assumption that these famous people are happy is the greatest scam, and we all fall prey to their public relations stunts when we start appreciating these folks.
Even mentally, we are inviting more problems into our lives. This we have to understand. We appreciate the looks of these people. We appreciate the dress and demeanor of other people. Furthermore, we see their confidence, and we feel that these folks are living a great life. “I hope we become like them”; this is a secret subconscious desire that we start nurturing.
The Trap of Wealth and Fame
Such a desire is the trap we like to fall into. Once we fall into this trap, our life shall only worsen. We are going to fall further and get to a stage from where we may never recover. We feel if I had so much wealth my concerns would disappear, if I had so many acquaintances and friends like these film stars I would never have difficulties. This is because I shall get help in times of need from some of these friends. Dear friends, this is where we are mistaken. All that comes out of too much wealth and fame is illusory and not long-standing.
If we look at these so-called stinking rich people they are plagued by bad habits they smoke drink consume drugs and gamble, why one obvious answer is, they do not want to remain conscious. If they remain conscious, their problems which have now taken the shape of psychological and emotional mountains will start haunting them. They want to engage their minds in something that will make them forget their concerns. But they engage in even more depressing activities that are only going to make their concerns multiply.
Usual Shortcomings in the Rich and Famous
Such people usually have rash behavior they have court cases against them, and they infringe on others’ lives for social or political reasons. Just having the biological structure of a human does not make us human beings. Most society in this fallen age of Kali is going back to the animal kingdom. People feel it is okay to gamble, it is okay to have hard drinks and non-vegetarian food. People feel it is cool to have multiple sexual partners. Everything is okay and all is well. This very attitude is the problem.
Over and above that, we believe that we should have a clean public image as if we are the epitome of goodness. This is what turns us from being just social animals to social devils. In the days of Satyuga, we read in the scriptures that the demon Hiranyakashipu was as tall as the sky. He was a demon in size and character. Today we see that there are demons who are just as tall as an average human but perform actions worse than those demons of yore.
A Common Man Has Far Fewer Problems than the Rich
A common man has much fewer concerns compared to these celebrities. Such a commoner has some house loans to pay. He has bills and children’s fees to pay, that’s about it, especially if we keep unnecessary ambitions aside. However, if we are bothered about our social position, we feel that the rich and the famous have a great social standing, and so we wish to have such a standing in society. If that is the case, then why is the common man suffering the primary and basic responsibilities of life comes the question.
Lack of Character is the Weakness of Modern Society
The answer is simple but not apparent what we are missing is the steadiness of character, unfortunately neither our parents nor society has educated us on matters relating to truth and character. It is our parents who have driven this notion that we have to validate ourselves with what society promotes as right.
For our modern parents social validation is more important than truth, people feel that it is okay to cheat if it adds material value to our lives. Many so-called social experts say it is okay to lie or cheat because we are not murdering anyone. We are just lying and so it is not going to harm anyone. We are gaining some advantage by lying, so why not lie with such an attitude?
Thus, we start building stress in our lives automatically, with such an external value starts the fall of character. Our focus has always been on the external. We have focused too much on matters related to survival and concluded that by providing superior means of survival at the cost of truth we shall also gain some position in society. We believe that having a social standing shall automatically and magically somehow dissolve our problems. Why do we feel this way? The cause for such an attitude is that we are slowly but certainly losing our character.
What is the Meaning of Character?
The question comes as to what character means. People think that if we are sexually faithful, that is character. But that is not entirely true. Being sexually faithful is just a puny part of the character. Having a character is the basis of human life. Unless we understand truth and character, we cannot even qualify as human beings. Character is when we are consistent with being the way we are. As a pure being, our internal and external world becomes synchronous if our character is maintained.
Suppose we disagree with our spouse or our boss on a certain thing, we should take up the pain of disagreeing with them and give them the reasons and put our perspective and logic on the issue. Character means thinking beyond profits and personal welfare. With this, we are building an external ambiance in line with who we are. Many people may believe that such an act could lead to dangerous consequences. People also say that this may strain a relationship or also get us out of a job. Well, I agree with this point of view, having a consistent character comes with a price tag.
Truth Comes at a Price
There is a certain amount of pain associated with being truthful and direct, but I would address the problem head-on without being diplomatic. It comes with a flip side, no doubt, but in the long run, the radiance of truth and character shines through you, lighting up both your internal and external worlds. This is Shreyas. Thinking and believing in the policies of the Rich is trying to apply Preyas. I have seen that by just being straight you solve all problems with almost no residue. I say almost because the rest of the residue simply vanishes with time, and you come out victorious and more powerful. You automatically develop fearlessness with enhanced soul power, which only you can experience.
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