Many wealthy people do not understand the anxiety they feel at night. They worry too much about their loans, mortgages, debts, and everything related to money and wealth. On the other hand, a simple person who lives with contentment and satisfaction often feels refreshed at night and sleeps soundly. Worry deprives a person of a good night’s sleep.
Have you ever imagined someone going to bed with his thoughts completely preoccupied with money? Even in his sleep, he dreams about it. In the morning, he wakes up and still, money is on his mind. He eats breakfast without truly enjoying the meal because his thoughts are burdened by financial concerns. This is what we call a topsy-turvy mind.
By the end of the day, he is already exhausted. What increases a person’s anxiety and misery is an uncontrollable appetite for power, wealth, and fame. After wallowing in the mire of filthy riches, he is lulled into a false sense of security. Is that not sad?
Even today, it is not surprising to see how some people trade their dignity and reputation for money. It is as if someone says, “How much is your life worth? Here is the payment. I believe you can do this.” See how money can easily cloud one’s judgment, how wealth and power can obscure one’s perception. So many crooked ways are caused and aggravated by the pursuit of power, fame, and wealth.
Little do they know that money can be one of the greatest sources of stress on earth. Little do they realize that, in eternity, money is worth no more than dust.
In a sudden twist of fate, all that constitutes mans happiness will fade like a mist before a morning sun... The fleeting pleasures, the pompous glory and the unspeakable power and authority became like a dream of yesterday. Thus, what we call, “man's pursuit of shadows”.
No matter how much we value our earthly tangible possessions, our possessions will never value us when we draw our dying breath. Let us look at the hands of a dying person whose life is on the brink of death and notice how they grasp the things they've neglected in their healthy fruitful years. When a person’s life is now hanging by a thread he is either holding the hands of his loved ones, rosary, scapulars or prayer booklet. We were made from dust and to dust we shall return.
Close relationship matters most in life. It is not what you have, but who you have in life that really counts. Develop a kind and long lasting relationship. Let’s all nurture the relationship we have with our family. Most of all intensify the relationship we have with our Heavenly Father.
