What Is Our Most Precious Resource?
And no, it’s not money. Some say money is like air—an abundant resource that is always available—but our relationship with it determines the choices we make.
Money comes and money goes, and it’s the choices we make about how much we think we need, how much we spend, and what we consume. No matter how much money we have or think we need, the only things money can’t buy is time and health.
Imagine a world where we respected our health and wellbeing as much as we did money. Time is so precious that every year we celebrate our birthdays by giving and receiving gifts. But as we get older, there is a generation of people who are starting to value experiences more than stuff.
An Increasing Number of People Are Choosing to Experience Life
We have been numbing ourselves with stuff as a way to compensate ourselves with the latest trendy clothing, accessories, gadgets, or whatever we think will make us happy. But more and more, people are finding that we want to declutter our lives so we can fully experience them.
Simplicity is becoming more appealing as a way of life than having to resource to the worship of money. And when it comes to money, we are witnessing more of us placing value on our lives and making different choices when it comes to work.
Attachment to anything or anyone causes us to obsess or worry about it, and this is true when it comes to our enough with the flow of money in our life. An Achuar tribesman shared that when he first left the Amazon Rainforest to visit the West, he was astounded by the concept of money.
He couldn’t just pick fruit off trees on the streets of a city, hunt, or drink clean water whenever he needed to. Everything he needed to consume required him to have money to buy it, when back in the forest, he could hunt and gather what was abundant with others.
We Decide which Resource We Value
We are the ones who created money and the stock market and decided which natural resources were expensive (gold) and which were cheap (sand). The only thing that does not cost money is the air we consume.
And we don’t experience the same attachment to air as we do to money. This man was actually shocked to see the carelessness and pollution of air everywhere he visited, knowing that every breath we take is dependent on air. He couldn’t understand the lack of respect to a vital natural resource like air.
Imagine for a moment that you were this Achuar man and it was your first time leaving the comfort of the Amazon Rainforest to experience the other world. What would you experience in his shoes? What would you observe and become aware of from his perspective?
When you live your life for money, prestige, or approval, you most likely are not getting up every day thrilled to start your day and full of gratitude when it’s time to go to bed at night.
And when you try to live your life in certainty and predictability in an uncertain world, you often stop yourself from going inside and finding out what it is you truly want to create. Some of the simplest things in life can often give you much deeper rewards than materialistic ones.
You got the fancy car, became a bestselling author, had lots of people who are in awe of you, won the championship, or whatever it is that provides the status you thought you wanted—but now what? And when you don’t win any of these, why do you often find yourself feeling like a loser? Who do you give your the power to put you in this box?
According to author Toni Morrison,
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
What is it that you need to live your life’s meaning fully? I bet when you truly invest the time in yourself to answer this question and use your own metrics as you define success, you will make healthier choices about who you spend time with and what’s truly important in your life.
The gift will be that you will know how to stop numbing yourself with things that only money can buy and spend your time practicing the art of life “It is hard work and great art to make life not so serious,” wrote author John Irving.
How seriously are you taking life? What will get your attention in 2022 and beyond? What is your most precious resource?